Diametric'lly Opposed
by notmariah7
Summary: What happens when the originally good characters in Hamilton...are bad? What happens when the bad characters are good? What happens when these characters have to attend a modern high school together? What happens when Thomas Jefferson can't tell what side the new, cute kid stands on?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, this might not be that great because I'm not used to writing in first person...**

 **Also, this is basically how my school works in the mornings: a half hour homeroom _after_ a half hour of just sitting around in the main room. Is that weird? I feel like it's weird.**

* * *

 ** _Thomas_**

I took a deep breath as I stepped through the doors of my school, Mount Vernon High School. Ironic, considering the school is pretty far from the actual Mount Vernon. But that's besides the point. Another crap day at this crap school was about to begin, meaning I, Thomas Jefferson, was forced to be around the crap people that attended it.

 _How exciting_.

The moment I walked into the multipurpose room, where all the students had to be before school, I regretted leaving my headphones in my bag. The entire school was packed into one room, so the sound was deafening. And, of course, some people were bound to be uncomfortable with another person shoved so close to them, which, under the right circumstances, could lead to an argument or a fight.

Apparently, that is exactly what happened.

In the center of the room, I saw a flurry of movement, involving two people and a few teachers trying to break up the fight.

One of the fighters was Charles Lee. Sure, he's a bit hot-headed, but a good kid regardless. He had gotten into fights before, but always for a legitimate reason. This made me wonder: _What happened to make Charles_ want _to fight John Laurens?_

John Laurens: now that's a dangerous kid. He picks fights with anyone and everyone, including teachers, for no reason. No one has ever beaten him in a physical fight, which makes most people avoid him if they can. Not everyone can do so, however, as he's a total bully to anyone smaller than him. Thankfully, he's pretty short, and I had outgrown him in 8th grade. Unfortunately, if I ever have to do a group project with him, he still threatens me into doing all the work. He wears the same sweatshirt everyday, casting a menacing shadow over his face when the hood is up. Laurens had a dark air about him anyway, and worst of all, he smiled so wide after beating someone up. Like now, for instance.

Laurens smirked creepily at Charles as they were both dragged into the office, a cut prominent on his bottom lip. Charles looked incredibly worse, a black eye and multiple other bruises forming on his face. I felt bad for the kid, but it wasn't like I could do anything to help, being the shy, awkward, outcast that I am.

 _Oh well._

I made my way through the room as the quiet murmur of shock passed and returned to a loud chatter. On my way, I narrowly dodged any chance of physical or eye contact with anyone, until I finally found the table that my friends were sitting at. I plopped down next to my best friend since kindergarten, James Madison.

"Hey, James," I greeted.

"Hey," James mumbled in response.

"What was that fight about?" I wondered aloud. James just shrugged, staring into the distance. I rolled my eyes. "Are you looking at Eliza again?" James turned to me so fast that I could hear his neck pop. His eyes blinked quickly and darted around, searching for an answer.

"Wha-pssh-no, I'm not-" James was sent into a coughing fit. This happened anytime he got too flustered. If he was flustered now, then that meant that he _had_ been looking at Eliza.

There were several problems with this. James had been utterly infatuated with Elizabeth Schuyler since 6th grade, and hadn't done anything about it because of his social anxiety. Eliza was out of his league anyway. She and her sisters, Peggy and Angelica, were the richest kids in school, and loved reminding people of that by wearing expensive clothes and jewelry, along with making fun of everyone else's appearances. They looked down on us all as if they were queens, while we were just pieces of trash on the street. Peggy and Angelica were bad, but Eliza was a mythic bitch compared to them. She would treat her classmates like her servants, making them do her homework and give her anything else she wants.

Eliza also kept amazing athletes off of the cheer team, which she was the head of. Take my close friend Maria, for example. She practiced every cheer to perfection and beyond, yet wasn't even allowed to try out for the team.

"Why do you like her so much?" I asked James, who tried, and failed, to hide his gaze to the other side of the room.

"She's pretty," James answered wistfully, "and she can be nice sometimes."

"She complimented your singing voice _once_ in choir _two years_ ago."

"She's been good other times."

"When? Elementary school?" Maria, who sat across from us, closed the book she had been reading and put it down, then pulled off her large glasses, letting her hair fall in front of her face.

"Thomas is right," Maria said, her quiet voice barely lifting over the rest of the noise in the room. "She wouldn't be good for you." James sighed in defeat. Maria turned to me. "You had asked about the fight, right?" I nodded. "I guess Laurens wanted to sit where Charles was for some reason. He refused to move, they argued, then Laurens pushed Charles onto the floor."

"And then they fought," I finished.

"Yeah. Lafayette recorded it all, of course."

"Why would he not?"

Gilbert Lafayette: social media god who rules the school with an iron fist. If he learned of a secret that someone had been keeping, everyone would know about it within two days. He does what he wants, can start or stop the activities of others at will, and no one, not even the seniors, can rival him. Despite the fact that he moved to America from France just a few years ago, everyone knew and feared him. He controls the student body more than the Schuyler sisters and Laurens could combined. Oddly enough, most people also followed his lead on what was deemed socially acceptable. Lafayette, with his extreme confidence, had managed to make usually uncool things cool. Choir, theater, hell, even being gay; he made those previously disliked subjects adored.

Yet, I was still a nerdy, almost friendless, raging homosexual that didn't understand why or how I was so different from the popular kids.

Okay, so _maybe_ I'm a _little_ bitter about that _one_ specific point. No one cared when I came out a few years ago, but as soon as this new, cocky, asshole starts dating the star player and quarterback of the football team, Hercules Mulligan (who is also a cocky asshole and apparently bi), everyone accepts it and sees their relationship as amazing (or horrible and annoying, depending on if they were in the room or not).

"Thomas?" I blinked back to reality when Maria snapped her fingers in my face. "You were zoning out."

"Sorry," I said. "I'm just...frustrated."

"With what?"

"The people in this school." Maria and James hummed in agreement just before the bell rang. I groaned as I gathered my things and stood to head to my homeroom.

I didn't have time to comprehend the oncoming curly-haired bun and football jersey before James was pushed to the ground. His books and papers flew everywhere, and he reached his arms out just in time to prevent himself from landing on his face. Maria and I rushed to help James up and gather his things while Lafayette and Mulligan snickered as they walked by.

"Are you okay?" I asked once James was back on his feet.

"I'm fine," he mumbled.

"I swear...the people in this school."

* * *

 **Okay, so, this is an idea I had. Tell me what you think about it! I'd really appreciate the feedback.**

 **I was was going to post something for John's birthday yesterday, but I was busy and it ended up not being as good as I wanted it to be, so I'll work on it more and post it another day.**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Alexander**_

The car slowed to a stop in front of the school. It wasn't nearly as big as my last school, but it was also bigger than my first. It seemed nice enough on the outside. Little, bright green shrubs lined the perimeter of the building and two large trees stood on either side of the entryway. Their leaves were beginning to turn red and orange, a sign that October had begun.

"Are you ready, kiddo?" I looked over at Mrs. Adams. She was in her 50s, but she certainly did not appear old. Her eyes were bright, and the skin around them crinkled a bit when she smiled, which she did often. Her hair was still a chestnut brown, and was cut to her shoulders. Her and her husband were incredibly kind to me, although they had only been my foster parents for a few weeks. I tried to be polite to them, too. They were probably the best parents I had had since my real parents. It was a difficult thing to do, however, considering my lack of trust for literally anyone.

"Yeah, I guess," I mumbled. We stepped out of the car and I grabbed my school bag from the back seat. It was my first day at this school, so all I had brought with me were empty binders, folders, and notebooks (one of these I used as a journal), as well as pencils, pens, and a biography about the first Treasury Secretary of America. It's interesting.

We walked into the school, then through a door that led directly to the office. _Thank goodness._ I did _not_ want to go through the crowd of kids I saw in the main room. The office was small, quiet, almost cozy. A young secretary sat at a desk in the front, her name tag reading "Ms. Sally Hemmings". She didn't seem to notice Mrs. Adams and I, since she was staring at her computer.

We stood in a short, awkward silence before Mrs. Adams finally said, "Excuse me." The secretary looked up at us, sighed in frustration and rolled her eyes, then dialed a number on her desk phone.

"Hey, yeah," Ms. Hemmings said when the phone was answered, disinterest in her voice. "That kid is here...Yup...Okay." She looked at us, now, nearly disgusted, and popped a gum bubble. "He'll be out in a minute." Mrs. Adams nodded and the two of us sat in the chairs against the wall.

"Are you excited?" Mrs. Adams asked me. I shrugged.

"Not really," I stated.

"Why not? New school, new opportunities, new friends-"

"New enemies."

"Alex, don't think like that."

"I'm just being realistic. Me having friends is unlikely and unnecessary. I can live just fine on my own." Mrs. Adams lips formed a thin line of discomfort. "Sorry. I didn't mean-"

The office door suddenly opened, and in came a few teachers and two students. The kids must have just been in a fight, because they were both covered in bruises. The first had raven hair that fell over one side of his face. The second wore a green sweatshirt that was so dark it looked black. The hood covered much of his head, casting one of those menacing, anime-like shadow over his face. In fact, the only parts of his face that I could see clearly were his freckle-covered cheeks and his utterly terrifying smirk.

Ms. Hemmings glanced up, groaned, called another number, and simply said "Laurens" into the receiver.

Apparently, this was a common occurrence.

Just a moment later, a door to the side opened, the name on it reading "Vice Principal Mr. George Washington". A man walked out with dark skin, no hair, and a face that appears to be in a constant state of "I hate everything and everyone ".

"Heeey, Georgie," the boy with the sweatshirt cooed. His voice was deep and mischievous. The vice principal just glared at him.

"Don't call me that," the man growled.

"Whatever you say, Georgie." Mr. Washington scowled and turned to one of the teachers.

"Another fight?"

"Yes," the teacher said. "We think John was the instigator. Again." Mr. Washington sighed.

"Boys, go to my office."

The boy in the sweatshirt-John?-ran to the room, shouting, "I call the comfy chair!" The other boy slowly followed him in while the teachers left. Mr. Washington addressed Ms. Hemmings now.

"Who is he?" I realized he was talking about me. Ms. Hemmings shrugged.

"I don't know," she sassed. "New kid, I guess."

"I'll take care of him." I looked over to see that another door had opened, another man standing outside of it. He had wavy, blond hair and calm, blue eyes. Mr. Washington narrowed his eyes at me before retreating into his office. I had a feeling the vice principal of a high school wasn't his first job of choice. "Alexander Hamilton, correct?" The new man gained my attention again. I nodded and stood.

"I'm Abigail Adams," Mrs. Adams stood and shook the man's hand. "I'm Alex's foster mother." I shifted on my feet uncomfortably. I glanced over and caught Ms. Hemmings giving me another "ew" look.

"I'm George King, the school's principal." He looked at me. "You can just call me Mr. King." I nodded. "I believe all your papers are already signed and what not. I'll give you everything you need if you'll come to my office real quick."

"Okay," I said quietly.

"Ms. Hemmings, could you please call Mr. Seabury to take him to home room?"

"Yeah, whatever," Ms. Hemmings muttered. I followed the principal to his office, seeing Mrs. Adams leave as I did. I sat down in one of the chairs in front of Mr. King's desk while he rifled through some papers.

"Ms. Hemmings doesn't like working here, does she?" Mr. King laughed at my sudden question.

"Maybe you should ask her that," the principal responded.

"I doubt she'd even bother answering me."

"She's not that bad. Neither is Mr. Washington. He's just a bit scary."

"Yeah, well, I can understand his RBF **(Resting Bitch Face)** if he has to deal with kids like that all the time."

"John Laurens? Yeah...he's a little...problematic. A wonderful artist, though." Mr. King handed me some papers, one of which was a schedule. I quickly looked it over, seeing mostly advanced classes. "I think that's everything. Let's get you to home room." We left his office meeting another man with carmel brown hair. "Mr. Seabury, this is Alexander Hamilton. He'll be in your home room from now on." Mr. Seabury nodded.

"Alright," Mr. Seabury said, "you can come with me." I hiked up my bag and started following the teacher out of the office.

"Good luck, Alexander," Mr. King called out to me.

"Thanks," I responded, "but I won't need it."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Thomas**_

If what had happened before school wasn't enough, my friends and I also had homeroom with many of the worst people in the school. The three of us sat in the corner of the room in the hopes of staying as far away from everyone as possible. Not too long after the late bell rang, our homeroom teacher, Mr. Seabury, walked in, a cute, short boy trailing behind him.

Okay, he was about as tall as Laurens, but that was still short to me. Also, he wasn't exactly _cute_ , but what sane person admits to thinking someone is _unbearably attractive_ the first time they're ever seen? And, _damn_ was he attractive. He had long, slick, black hair that was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and wide, deep, dark eyes.

 _Curse my gay ass._

I jumped a bit when Maria waved a hand in front of my eyes.

"What is with you today?" She mumbled as the teacher began to speak.

"This is Alexander Hamilton," Mr. Seabury said, gesturing to the beautiful kid next to him. "He's new, so give him time to adjust." He turned to Alexander now. "Sit wherever there's an empty seat." Alexander gave a small nod and looked around the room for a place to sit _._ I watched him scan the room, his intelligent eyes observing the other students. They scanned over the laughing Lafayette and Mulligan on the other side of the class, then came to land on me. I panicked and looked away as fast as I could, praying that he hadn't caught me staring at him. I had no idea if he had or not, but I assumed the worst when he took the seat to my left.

 _Oh, God. Oh, no, no, no._

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alexander take out a notebook and pencil and begin writing at a fast pace. The look of determination on his face only made him appear more handsome. He chewed his bottom lip when he stopped for a moment to think, nearly making me swoon. Instead of doing that and making a fool out of myself, I sighed softly.

Not soft enough, however. Alexander suddenly looked up from his paper and right at me. Once again, our eyes locked for a split second before I hastily turned my head down, as if I was about to do something. My face burned and I desperately hoped that with my head ducked, my curly hair would cover the blush I had.

Just as I felt I could risk facing up again, James tapped my shoulder. As he handed me a note, I noticed him and Maria smirking mischievously at me. I unfolded the paper, holding it under the desk in fear that it was about Alexander.

It was.

 _You like him._ The note read. Leave it to James to not sugarcoat anything. I quickly scribbled a response.

 _You like Eliza._ James frowned when he read it, but replied nonetheless.

 _I refuse to say touché. Introduce yourself!_

 _Hi. I'm Thomas._

 _To_ _him_ _, doofus._

 _No._

 _Why not?_

 _I don't know anything about him._ I wrote smaller: _Except that he's cute AF._ They laughed quietly, Maria writing this time.

 _If you actually talk to him, then you'll get to know him better._

 _I'm not going to. I doubt he even likes guys and I'm too awkward for someone to like and he's probably mean anyway._

"Join the club," James whispered as Maria wrote.

 _If he is, oh well. But you won't know unless you try._

 _No._

 _Come on, man._ I could practically hear James' groan through the paper. _We've been trying to find you a boyfriend for years. Now's your chance!_

As it turned out, now was _not_ my chance, because, at that very moment, Lafayette and Mulligan decided to officially meet the new kid (correction: Lafayette wanted to; we all knew that Mulligan followed his boyfriend around like a dog on a leash, drooling and all). I almost fell when Mulligan pushed my chair to the side so Lafayette had more room to lean down to Alexander's level.

"Bonjour. Alexander Hamilton, correct?" Lafayette cooed, his accent and low voice making him sound evilly seductive. Alexander only spared one glance at the boy, nodding curtly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Cheri. Je m'appelle Lafayette, et this is my boyfriend, Hercules." Alexander cocked an eyebrow, still focused on his writing.

"What kinds of names are those?" Lafayette was clearly taken aback by the question, and I wondered how long it had been since someone had sassed him.

"Pardon?" Lafayette gasped.

"A demigod for some dumb reason...and Lafayette? What?" Mulligan crossed his arms and scowled.

"It is my last name," Lafayette said, rolling his eyes.

"So your first name is too stupid to use, then?"

"I am trying to be nice to you, you know," Lafayette growled, a fake smile still covering his face.

"It's probably Gilbert or something," Alexander mumbled. "Also, I doubt that you actually care." Lafayette's face fell into a cold glare.

"You caught me," Lafayette deadpanned. "Although, I really do want to get to know you."

"Why? To be able to point out my weaknesses?"

"I'll admit it, you are smart," Lafayette glowered. "But you also just got on my bad side by talking to me like this. Congratulations on your merveilleux work on your first day here."

"Oh, no," Alexander whispered sarcastically. Just then, Lafayette leaned over and snatched Alexander's notebook out of his hands. "Hey! Give that back!" Lafayette just smirked, holding the notebook above his head.

"Let's see what Monsieur Hamilton has in his journal, hm?" The Frenchman flipped through the notebook while Alexander tried in vain to take it back. Anytime he reached out, Mulligan knocked him to the side. I felt a sudden urge to stand and help, but I knew what kind of trouble that would get me into. Lafayette hummed a mocking tune as he read what Alexander had written. "New school...blah, blah, blah... Foster homes? Ooh...interesting..."

"Give it back!" Alexander cried, futilely trying to get around Mulligan.

" _Tsk, tsk, tsk_ ," Lafayette sneered, shaking his head. "This is what happens when you try to talk back to me, mon stupide cheri. Oh, what did you write here about homeroom? The- _aagh!_ " I held back a gasp when Alexander ran around his antagonizers, then shoved Lafayette, sending him stumbling backwards into Mulligan. While he was stunned, Alexander snagged his notebook back, jumping away.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you?" Alexander snarled.

" _Me_?" Lafayette gasped. "What's wrong with _you_? You _pushed_ me!"

"One: you stole my property. Two: I know I pushed you. Three: I couldn't care less." Lafayette took a step towards Alexander.

"You are _really_..." just for a moment, Lafayette stopped to think of the phrase, "pushing your luck, kid."

"Tell me where the line is and I'll cross it."

"I can make your life a hell, Hamilton."

"I'd like to see you try, _mon stupide cheri_."

" _You_ -"

" _Boys_." Mr. Seabury stood from his desk to stop the argument before it got any worse. "Sit down. I doubt you want a write up on your first day, Mr. Hamilton. And, I doubt you want to go to the office for a second time this week, Mr. Lafayette."

Lafayette scoffed and rolled his eyes, then glared at Alexander once again. He stepped closer and said quietly, "I will make you wish you never came here." He and Mulligan returned to their seats and Alexander dropped back down into his.

"Holy hell..." Alexander whispered, putting his notebook away and opening a book instead. It was then that I realized: this kid needs my help. He's new, yet already in line to get bullied. By Lafayette! Someone as cute as him doesn't deserve that. Maybe that's why I subconsciously wrote him a note.

Of course, there was no way I could give it to him. That would basically be like confessing to having a major crush on him. No, instead I just shoved the paper in my pocket as the bell rang and hurried to my first class, not looking back.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Alexander**_

My first class of the day was pre-calculus, which was just wonderful. Who doesn't love math in the early morning? Once I found the classroom, I walked inside, seeing that the room was already half full. I mentally sighed. Finding a seat in this mess would already be difficult, but for a new kid? Near impossible. Not only that, but it was already October, so everyone knew where they were supposed to be. Everyone but me.

I looked around again and saw that a seat was still empty near the back corner of the room. I sighed out loud this time and went to sit down. When I did, I noticed that the person next to me began to fidget. I glanced over to see that they were the boy I had sat next to in home room. I had noticed that the boy was quiet, and was bad at hiding who he looked at. On the other side of the room, however, people were not as quiet. A girl burst out laughing, because of whatever conversation she was having. I almost looked up to see who it was, then remembered that he couldn't care less. I took out my journal and began to write.

 _I am a firm believer that always being nice will get you nowhere in life. You will be pushed around and ignored unless you stand your ground. This is how you do it:_

"Hey." I turned my head up to see a girl standing in front of me. Her face had Asian features, and her jet black hair fell around her shoulders. She wore a pale blue, flowing blouse that was open at the shoulders, white ripped jeans, and a diamond necklace that probably cost more than the house I was living in. "You're new, aren't you?" I nodded, not in the mood to talk. "Yeah, well, you're in my seat."

"Is it actually your seat, or do you just like sitting here?" I asked calmly. "Or, are you trying to mess with me?" The girl rolled her eyes.

"Just get out of my seat, nerd."

"Did you think that was an insult? It's not; it's a fact."

Then, the teacher walked in, saying, "Eliza, please sit down."

The girl-Eliza, apparently-whined, "Someone is in my seat."

"Sit somewhere else, then."

"But-"

"Now." Eliza groaned and stormed off, glaring at me as she went to the other side of the room. I sighed, then felt someone's eyes on me. I turned just in time to catch the quiet kid looking away from me for the third time today. Huh. He began to write something down, and I was reminded of what I had been doing when I was interrupted.

 _1\. You can only be insulted if you let yourself be insulted. Remind yourself that you are not what they say you are. Or, better yet, embrace who you are. There is nothing wrong with being a nerd, gay (or anything in that category), or even a little bit of an asshole. Emphasis on_ a little bit.

The class began, and I traded my journal for a notebook that I can actually take notes in. The teacher never pointed out that I was new, thankfully. Class went smoothly, with me answering a few questions and getting my homework done early. The only hiccup was a ball of paper getting thrown at my head.

I didn't flinch or jump or scream; I had dealt with much worse, after all. I merely blinked from the sudden impact . A few strands of my hair came loose, falling into my eyes. I simply pushed them behind my ear, continuing to write.

 _2\. When people are trying to bother you, try not to react. All they want is to see you upset, so do not give them the satisfaction. Just let them run their course until they get bored and leave you alone. Of course, this only truly works on those who are bothersome, not bullies. With bullies, my personal solution is to fight them until they cry. Although, this solution of mine may have caused me to get moved to a different home on multiple occasions._

I decided to cut off there. I really didn't need to write any more than necessary in these entries, and I had already written about my previous foster homes.

Another paper was thrown at me. I had a feeling the papers said something that I wouldn't want to read. I also had a feeling I knew who was throwing them. I flipped to a new page in my journal to start a new entry; I could go back to the other one later.

 _I have a suspicion that the girl in my math class is not well liked. Her name is Eliza, I found out, and she attempted to insult me, because I was supposedly in her seat. That fact alone is odd. She seems to be just fine on the other side of the room around her friends. Why would she rather sit in the back, next to the silent kid from my home room?_

The bell rang, and the boy next to me shot up and basically ran out of the room with his head down. _What's he scared of?_

When I got to my next class, I noticed that he wasn't there, but someone else from my home room was. The girl that the silent boy sat next to was there. It was hard to tell at first, because her hair covered much of her face. I thought to hell with it and sat behind her. As I walked passed her desk, I noticed her glancing up at me above her glasses. She looked away quickly, turning back to a book. What is with people staring at me today? I could only assume it was because I was new, and I hoped those stares would stop soon.

* * *

I couldn't remember the last time I had a lunch at school. Many of my previous foster homes wouldn't give me lunch money or give me a lunch to bring. Today, however, Mrs. Adams sent me to school with a lunchbox full of food. Not that I would be able to eat any of it. I would most likely be so focused on reading or writing that I would completely forget about any food in front of me.

Yet another problem with being a new kid: finding somewhere to sit in the chaos of lunch. Fortunately, I had learned years ago to just sit on the stairs, far away from anyone else. Unfortunately, as I headed for that little corner of the room, I noticed that some people were already there. They were two of the kids from my home room, the girl and the other quiet boy. An unattended lunchbox sat on the floor between them, which I assumed was for the boy from my class. I almost considered sitting next to them, but then I remembered that interacting with people was the last thing I wanted to do.

Also, as soon as I took another step, an open carton of milk was thrown at me. I gasped when the cold liquid splashed against my chest and neck.

From a few tables away, I heard someone yell, "Je suis désolé, mon stupide cheri!"

I sighed. _Of course._ Who else would have done this? I started walking towards the bathroom to clean myself off, thinking, _Well, I wasn't planning on eating, anyway._


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thomas**_

Being stuck in a bathroom stall was only an inconvenience to me. Sure, that seems odd, but I don't like to bother people, and I'm better off not being seen, anyway. Besides, only a few people would actually notice if I was suddenly missing in the middle of the day. Those few people helped a lot. But, that's besides the point. The point was: I was currently trapped in a bathroom stall.

How did this happen? Well, even though I am not noticed very often, I'm still a nerdy, shy kid. The perfect candidate for getting bullied nearly everyday. So, of course, when three football players followed me into the bathroom during lunch, I knew what to expect.

My head hit the wall as one of them shoved me into a stall. They put something in front of the door, keeping it from opening, no matter how hard I pushed on it. I sighed and leaned against the wall when I heard my tormentors leave. So, now I was stuck in the bathroom, with no way out, no way to contact my friends, and no one around who could or would help me.

" _Fuck_..." I whispered.

I then heard soft footsteps and someone call out, "Hello?"

 _Shit_.

* * *

 _ **Alexander**_

As I went into the bathroom, I bumped into a few kids who I assumed were on the football team, based on how they looked and acted. I was so focused on my ruined shirt that I ran right into one of them.

"Hey, watch it!" One of them yelled, pushing me to the side. I rolled my eyes and kept walking, thankful that they didn't follow me.

I sighed when I looked in the mirror. My shirt was completely soaked. Of course I would have to deal with this bullshit on my first day at a new school. Maybe I would have been left alone if I had kept my goddamn mouth shut for one in my life. I felt so tempted to go back into the lunchroom and fight that kid, but I knew he had that bodyguard on his side.

" _Fuck_..." For a second, I thought the word had come from my own mouth, but I quickly realized that it wasn't my voice. I looked around for someone else, not seeing anyone. I took a few steps towards the stalls and saw something...weird. A metal pole-it looked like a piece of sports equipment-was rammed between a stall door and a wall, effectively keeping the door from opening. However, I could see that someone was inside.

"Hello?" I called out. "Um, do you need help?"

After a moment, a quiet voice said, "Yes, please." I pulled the pole loose, then stepped back as the door slowly opened. Out walked the boy from my home room and math class. He looked shocked to see me, and seemed unable to speak for a while. "Th-Thank you..." The boy hurriedly walked past me and towards the door, but I stopped him.

"Wait, are you okay? Why were you stuck in there?" The boy froze, his breath hitching. He shrugged, still not looking at me. "Did someone do that to you?" He nodded hesitantly. "Are you hurt?" He shook his head quickly. "You don't talk much, do you?" He shook his head again. "Hmm..." I turned back to the mirror, remembering that I was covered in milk. What a wonderful first impression.

"Wh-What happened?" I blinked at the near-silent voice that came from the boy. When I looked at him in confusion, he shied away as if he did something wrong. "S-Sorry."

"Wha-no I just...assumed you would have left. Uh, to answer your question: that French fuck threw his drink at me."

"Sorry..."

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything." The boy stepped back a bit, staring at the floor.

"Sorry." I rolled my eyes.

"It's fine. I'll probably end up fighting him and then never coming back to this school." I had mumbled this last sentence, but the boy still heard me, raising an eyebrow. I avoided any explanation and faced the mirror again, using paper towels to dry my shirt. The boy behind me had moved out of my view of him through the mirror, so it looked like I was talking to myself. "I'm honestly hoping that happens. That way, I can beat this kid up, and then disassociate myself with everyone once again. It's weird, when I'm talking to people, I never shut up, yet I would rather be alone. I have a feeling you like being alone, too-" I had turned around to face the boy, only to see that he had disappeared. _I guess he really did want to be alone._

I sighed, going back to cleaning myself off. When I turned, though, my eyes caught on a flash of color. Hanging off of the edge of a sink was a gray sweatshirt; the one the boy had been wearing. I didn't know if he had forgotten it or...if he had left it there on purpose. But, why would he do that? I glanced down at my own shirt, then back at the sweatshirt.

The bell rang.

Within about two seconds of thought, I decided that I couldn't very well go to class with a milk-covered shirt. I groaned before taking my shirt off and slipping the sweatshirt on. I didn't bother taking my shirt with me, and instead tossed it in the trash. "Fuck it" was my only thought. I couldn't be late to class.

* * *

 ** _Thomas_**

I basically sprinted back into the lunchroom towards my friends. I kept my head down and held on tight to my now uncovered arms. _Why did I do that? Why did I do that? How could I be so stupid that I do something like that? Why. Did. I. Do that?_

"Hey, Thomas, what took you so long?" James asked when I sat down next to him. "Where's your sweatshirt?" I just sighed and looked away.

"It's a long, dumb story," I muttered.

"Well, there's still a few minutes of lunch-"

"I'm not hungry." Maria and James looked at me in concern. "I'm fine. I just...I'm fine." A flash of memory rocketed through my mind, reminding me of what I had done. _Idiot. Idiot. Idiot._ "I'm fine."


	6. Chapter 6

_**Alexander**_

The end of the day took its time to arrive, but when it did, I couldn't have left the school faster. Mrs. Adams was waiting in her car out front, and I hurried to her, tossing my bag in the backseat.

"How was your first day, kiddo?" Mrs. Adams asked.

"Fine," I responded curtly. I stared out the window, realizing that I was probably the only junior without a car or a friend to get a ride from.

"What happened to your shirt?" I blinked when Mrs. Adams spoke.

"It, uh..." I held back for a moment, wondering if she would be angry with me for ruining the shirt she got me. I pressed my luck. "I bumped into someone at lunch and their food got all over it. I got this sweatshirt from the lost and found." She didn't need to know the whole truth.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mrs. Adams frowned.

"It's fine." The rest of the car ride to the Adams' house was silent, which was fine by me.

When we got to the house, I went to my room to change and do my homework. I put a new shirt on, tossing the sweatshirt onto my bed.

That would have been the end of it. I would have just sat at the desk and done homework, ignoring the day's events. I would have done so much, if not for the papers that fell out of the pocket of the sweatshirt.

I looked up, debating whether or not to pick up the papers. Eventually, I caved, getting up and grabbing the papers. There were two of them, both folded until they were small. I unfolded one, then the other, realizing that they were notes. After reading the first few words of one, I figured out that they were notes for me.

 _Dear New Boy_

 _You probably won't read this, but I felt like I should try to help you anyway._ _My name is unimportant, along with the rest of me, but what I'm about to tell you is crucial._

 _Don't mess with Lafayette and Mulligan, Lafayette especially. I say this for your own safety. That kid does anything he wants to anyone he wants and gets away with it every time. He'll find out everything about you, every little secret, and spread it like wildfire, even if it isn't true. Trust me, unless you want to get beaten up by Lafayette, Mulligan, or anyone they pay, you'll back off of them. A new kid like you doesn't deserve to get bullied on your first few days._

 _~TJ_

I read the note twice, for no particular reason, then moved on to the next one.

 _Dear New Boy_

 _It's me again, but you probably don't care. I'll just get to the point._

 _I know she just seems kind of whiny right now, but Elizabeth Schuyler is almost as dangerous as Lafayette and Mulligan. Everyone does what she tells them to, mainly because most people are absolutely in love with her. She can get someone to hurt you, simply by offering herself as a reward. Her sisters, Peggy and Angelica, work under her, making sure her dirty work gets done. The three of them can make everyone turn against you with the snap of their fingers._

 _On the other hand, I have to thank you. She only sits next to me so she can copy my tests and homework, and to bother me. So, thanks for taking her spot. I'd much rather sit next to you._

 _~TJ_

 _Welp..._ I knew for sure now that the kid had purposely left his sweatshirt for me. Even though he had never actually given me these notes, he had been trying to protect me. That never happened. I thought about the notes for a minute.

That _never_ happened. _Ever_. No one had ever really tried to protect me since my mother had died, so why would anyone help me now?

I tore the notes into pieces and threw them away, then shoved the sweatshirt into my book bag so I didn't have to see it anymore. Even if this TJ was legitimately trying to help me, I couldn't risk trusting him. Trusting people leads to bad things happening; to being betrayed or hurt. Getting your hopes up just leads to getting disappointed. Why risk that when you could just avoid it altogether?

I didn't need this kid's help, I decided. I can stand my own ground and fight for myself. I sure as hell didn't need protection.

* * *

 ** _Thomas_**

After lunch, I spent an hour in the nurse's office, having an anxiety attack and waiting for my mom to pick me up and take me home. I sat shaking on the cot, unable to get the thoughts out of my head.

 _Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. That was the dumbest thing you've ever done. Now he thinks you're some weirdo. Oh, God, he's going to read the notes and think you're stalking him or something. Or he'll figure out that you like him and hate you forever. You couldn't even talk to him, so why did you think you could do something like that? God, so stupid._

"Thomas?" I managed to glance up at the nurse. "Your mother is here." I gathered my things and hurried out of the room. When I saw my mom in the office, I felt myself calm down for a fraction of a second. My mom was someone who could do that. Her face alone was kind, and her personality was even kinder. I looked a lot like her; we had the same curly hair, dark eyes, and plush lips. Unfortunately, the calm that passed over me disappeared as soon as it had returned.

 _Good job, Thomas. You made your mom leave her job early just because you were freaking out a little. So selfish. In fact, everything you've done today has been selfish. You only tried to help him because you want him to like you. Yeah, that turned out well._

I began to tremble as if there was an earthquake. My eyes welled up with new tears.

"Hey, Sweetie," my mom said, reaching out to me. "It's okay. Come on, let's get you home. It's okay." I wanted to believe her. We got into the car, and she gently asked, "We're you really sick, or were you just panicking?"

"S-Sorry..." I choked out.

"It's alright, Thomas. I'm glad you could at least tell me."

 _Yeah, but telling her the truth only made it worse for you, didn't it? Your dad is going to beat the shit out of you when he finds out you left school just because you couldn't handle a little anxiety. So weak. You might as well just die._

I hiccuped loudly at the thought. I remembered my mom telling me that if my attacks got too bad at school that I should call her right away, so I did.

"I'll come get you as soon as I can, okay? Just sit tight." I listened to her, sitting in the nurse's office with my arms and legs pulled tightly against my chest. If I had let my limbs relax for even a moment, I would have... Mom said that I couldn't harm myself at school anymore. She checked my arms everyday so I couldn't hide it. "Once you stop at school, then we can try to stop at home, too, okay? Little steps."

But little steps were bullshit. Fine, I'll stop at school. After all, I'm still going home at the end of the day, and there I can beat myself up over my idiocy all I want until I feel better.

 **Merry Christmas...**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Alexander**_

I brought the sweatshirt back to school the next day, regardless of how much I didn't want to. I barely wanted to go to school in the first place, but I decided that I might as well get a good education before I die in one way or another. I didn't even bother waiting for school to start in the multipurpose room with all the other students. Instead, I went straight to the school's library to read and write until the first bell rang. When it did, I mentally groaned throughout the entire walk to my homeroom.

When I walked into homeroom, I headed towards the seat I had been in yesterday. The kids I had sat next to were there once again, but they seemed to avoid looking at me. I stood next to the quiet kid and tapped him on the shoulder. He flinched- _huh_ -and slowly turned to me. I held out his sweatshirt, and he stared at me warily before cautiously taking his sweatshirt from my hands. He was already wearing a different sweater, so he simply held the clothing in his hands, awkwardly glancing between me and his friends.

"Why did you give that to me?" I asked him, sitting down next to him. He shifted his chair slightly farther away from me, but I didn't say anything about it.

"I, uh, I just-I was just trying to help." The boy rung his hands together as he quietly spoke. "S-Sorry..."

"No, don't-" I sighed. "I mean, thanks, just...why?" The boy's face flushed as he shrugged. I sighed again. "Okay...at least tell me your name? Because your notes only said TJ, so unless that's what you go by..." I trailed off, seeing that the boy's eyes had widened, and he was beginning to shake and hyperventilate. _Did he not want me to read those?_ I took out a notebook and pencil, and passed them to the boy. "Here. I forgot you don't like talking." The boy looked at the materials, confused. "Just write." The boy shakily picked up the pencil and hesitantly wrote on the paper. When he was done, he pushed it back to me.

 _Thomas._

I picked up the pencil and wrote an equally short response.

 _Alexander._

 _Okay._

 _You don't like talking through writing, either, do you?_

 _I guess I don't really like human interaction. I have a lot of anxiety._

 _Why did you write me those notes, then?_

I watched Thomas gulp heavily before answering.

 _I just wanted to_ _help._

 _Well, thank you, but I'll be fine._

 _With all due respect, you don't understand. The kids here are absolutely brutal._

 _I've dealt with brutal before. I can deal with it again._

 _I hope you know what you're doing._

I didn't, if I was being honest, but every good lawyer lies.

 _Why_ _are you trying to help me so much?_

 _I don't want there to be another victim to them._

 _Victim?_

 _Just stay away from them, okay?_

 _I can't do that if they're the ones bothering me._

 _Try, at least?_

Although his words were only written, I could basically hear him begging me to not screw anything up.

"Fine," I grumbled. Thomas looked surprised that I had begun to speak out loud again. "But for the record, I don't need any help."

"Okay..." Thomas stared at the floor, but he seemed to have calmed down.

Not too long after, the bell rang, and we all headed to our first classes. Thomas and I ended up walking to class together, although Thomas tried to walk faster to stay away from me.

When we we got to class, I went to sit in my previous seat next to Thomas, but someone stopped me. The girl who had bothered me yesterday-Eliza?-was there once again, but she was sitting in Thomas' seat this time. I glanced at him, seeing a hint of panic on his face.

I went up to Eliza and simply told her, "Move."

"I don't think so," Eliza laughed. "Your boyfriend can sit over there." She pointed to the other side of the room, and Thomas walked away without arguing. "I want to talk to you, today, new kid."

"Why?" I asked, setting my things down on the desk next to her.

"Because you thought you could talk back to me without there being consequences. I want to prove you wrong." She smiled sweetly as she spoke.

"It's not that I didn't think there would be consequences, I just really couldn't care less."

"Oh, that's a shame, because, you know, if you-"

"Listen, I'm seriously not interested in anything you have to offer, so could you kindly shut up?"

"Why do you think you can talk to me like that?"

"Probably because you're a whiny rich girl who thinks she deserves every little thing she wants and thinks that everyone is below her."

"It's not my fault you're poor."

"There it is." I took out my notebook and began to write. I didn't need to deal with this. After a few moments of ignoring her attempts to annoy me, Eliza huffed and stood up.

"Fine, you can have your stupid boyfriend back." I didn't acknowledge her, even though I wanted to roll my eyes. Not too long after, Thomas appeared next to me again, hesitantly sitting down.

"You were right," I said. "She's extremely annoying."

"Yeah," Thomas muttered. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"The girls over there don't like me." Thomas nervously rubbed his wrists.

"I see." We drifted off into silence, and I continued to write.

 _Thomas is his name, I found out, and he seems to be in a perpetual state of fear. I do not know what caused this, and I am not sure why I care, but I have a feeling much of this fear came from the kids in this school. After all, he seems quite afraid of them._

 _I, on the other hand, am not afraid to fight a girl, especially not this one._


	8. Chapter 8

_**Thomas**_

Laurens was back. He had been suspended for a couple of days, but he was back, now. The air was notably tenser from the moment he walked into the building. I was worried that Alexander would attempt to argue with Laurens like he had done with Eliza and Lafayette.

Alexander had sat next to me in home room again, but he didn't really acknowledge each other until Laurens came through the door. I kept my head down as I watched him sit at a desk across the room. Alexander turned to me with a questioning look on his face. I wrote him a note.

 _That's John Laurens. He's an asshole._

Alexander snorted and smirked a bit. I blushed when I realized that I had been the cause of that. Alexander responded with:

 _In what sense?_

 _In every sense. He's a bully. He's racist, sexist, xenophobic, and_ really _homophobic. Ironic that Lafayette can control him if he wants._

Alexander pursed his lips and furrowed his eyebrows. He glanced between my note and Laurens. He looked as if he was about to stand and yell at Laurens, but he thankfully stayed put in his seat. Instead, Alexander hummed and turned back to me.

"I'll try to avoid him, then," Alexander whispered.

"Smart," I muttered.

"Hmph," Alexander grinned. "Smart is all I am."

I smiled at him.

* * *

 ** _Alexander_**

I didn't want to sit alone at lunch. It was strange, I had sat alone every time before, but, for some reason, I didn't want to risk it now. So, I took my lunchbox, my book, and my determination, and walked right up to Thomas and his friends.

They stared at me in confusion and a tiny bit of fear, and I looked right at Thomas when I said, "I'm sitting by you."

Due to Thomas' darker skin, it was a little difficult to tell if he was blushing or not. He glanced at his friends, who nodded, and squeaked out a quiet, "Okay."

So, I sat next to Thomas on the stairs.

Thomas' friends introduced themselves as James Madison and Maria Lewis. Aside from that, the three of them were awfully quiet. I couldn't tell if they didn't talk because I was there, or if they were always like this.

Instead of talking, I opted to look around the room. It seemed like a fairly average lunchroom to me. I saw Eliza at a table of cliché popular girls, Lafayette and Mulligan sitting together at a table of other football players, and Laurens in a corner by himself. It may seem strange that I searched specifically for my enemies, but it's helpful to know where they are at all times. Keep your enemies closer and all that.

Because of this, I noticed right away when Lafayette led Mulligan over to Laurens. Lafayette began to talk to Laurens, and although Laurens' face showed disgust, he still seemed to listen to whatever Lafayette said to him.

"Um...is that normal?" I asked Thomas. He looked up from his food at me.

"What?" I nodded towards Lafayette and Laurens. "Oh. That's not good," Thomas mumbled. We watched the conversation between Laurens and Lafayette from afar. Laurens shook his head at one point, but appeared to hesitate when Lafayette said something else to him. Laurens gave a small nod, and Lafayette and Mulligan walked away.

I could've sworn all three of them looked at me.

"What do you think they were talking about?" I wondered.

"Something bad," Thomas replied. "If Lafayette and Laurens are talking, it probably means someone is going to get hurt. Probably someone that pissed Lafayette off."

"Someone like me, then."

"...Yes."

"Great. I'll watch my back."

"Smart."

I smirked at him. "Need I remind you that smart is all I am?" He smiled at me in return, albeit a bit shyly.

"Of course not."

* * *

 ** _Lafayette_**

"He's sitting by that Jefferson kid," I said, glancing at Hamilton, who was eating lunch on the stairs with the other outcasts. "He's desperate." Hercules looked up at him, too.

"Yup."

"Do you think they're actually friends?"

"I dunno."

"Ugh, even I know he can do better than that. Definitely not our level, but better." Hercules nodded. "Still, he needs to learn his lesson." Hercules nodded again. I pursed my lips in thought, and ended up gaining a kiss. "Hercules!" I giggled.

"'M sorry." I waved it off.

"Laurens is back, yes?"

"Yeah."

"I want to talk to him." Hercules hesitated, but unwrapped his arms from around me. I stood and made my way to where Laurens sat, with Hercules following me.

Laurens was was drawing in a sketchbook when I got to him, so, to get his attention, I slammed my hand on top of his drawing, but I was careful not to smudge it too much. Laurens quickly looked up and nearly stood to fight, but, when he saw who was in front of him, he merely glared at me.

"What do you want?" Laurens asked, his voice low.

"I need you to do something for me," I said. Laurens rolled his eyes.

"Why would I want to do something for a fag like you?" I began to tear the page in his sketchbook. A minuscule glint of panic flashed in Laurens' eyes. "What do you want me to do?"

"Well, for one, _never_ call me that again. Understand?" Laurens rolled his eyes again, but nodded slightly. "Good. Second, I know how fond you are of hurting people, so I have a prop...proposition for you." Laurens smirked when the English word escaped me for a moment.

"What would that prop-proposition be?" I scowled at Laurens.

"There's a new kid who thought he could step to me. Alexander Hamilton. He's in our home room. I want you to teach him a lesson."

"Hmm..." Laurens shook his head. "No."

"Fine," I sighed. "I've been told that your dad cut you off so you can't buy anymore weed. I can pay you. What do you say?" Laurens hesitated, then nodded.

"$200."

"Deal."

"Where is he?"

"On the stairs." Without another word, I turned with a flourish and gestured for Hercules to follow me back to our table.

"Do you think he'll actually do it?" Hercules asked me.

"Of course he will," I answered. "He's working for _me_ , after all." I smiled proudly and looked over at Hamilton. This was going to be fun.

* * *

 **I don't condone doing drugs, by the way.**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Alexander_**

All day after lunch, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. It was usually just in the hallway that I felt this, but it was in a few classes, as well. I could never tell where it was coming from, or if I was being watched, at all. I was a little paranoid.

I expected Lafayette or Laurens to come after me sometime during the day, but neither ever did. I was safe, it seemed. For now.

The next day was odd for me, in a way, and I determined that it was because of Thomas. That morning, I was...excited to see him? I wasn't entirely sure. I had never felt necessarily happy to see someone before, and I had never had friends before either, so I really wasn't sure what I was feeling.

Nevertheless, I found myself smiling at him when I walked into home room. He even smiled shyly at me in return.

"No one's attacked me, yet," I proudly told Thomas.

"That's good," Thomas agreed.

"I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them tried to hurt me sometime soon. I'm kind of excited for it, I think." Thomas stared at me in alarm.

"Why would you be excited for something like that?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I like to fight people. It's thrilling." Thomas looked worried. "It's not like I _want_ to fight people like Laurens does. I just like fighting those who think they can hurt me. Or those who are horribly wrong about something, but those are just verbal fights."

Thomas still seemed a little afraid, but he nodded and mumbled, "Okay."

"That doesn't mean I'm ever going to hurt you," I assured him. "Unless, of course, you suddenly become an asshole, but I don't think you ever will."

"I...I'm not sure whether or not that was a compliment..."

"I'd say it was. At least, it's as close to a compliment as I can make it. It's kind of hard to come up with something nice to say to someone when I don't like people in general." Thomas looked down at his desk, and for a moment, I thought I had truly upset him somehow. However, I soon noticed the faint grin on his face.

"Neither do I."

* * *

Mrs. Adams had told me that she would be late to pick me up after school, so I decided to wait in the library until she came to get me. The halls were already empty at the end of the day, as everyone had been so excited to leave. I enjoyed the quietness as I took my time walking to the library.

At one point, I heard footsteps echoing through the hall that weren't mine. I ignored them, assuming that someone was just heading the same direction as I was.

I was mostly wrong.

After a minute, the footsteps were directly behind me. I was tempted to turn around, because something felt dangerously ominous, but I just kept walking. In hindsight, should have turned around.

Someone grabbed the back of my shirt, and before I could react, I was thrown against a wall of lockers. I tensed as the person pinned me to the wall, then I took a second to look at them.

They were a boy, barely any taller than me. He had long, curly, brown hair that was pulled into a ponytail behind his head. There were enough freckles on his face to fill the night sky like stars, and his eyes were like nebulas, colored with sparkling emerald, bronze, and gold. In short, he was hot. _Really_ hot.

But I already hated him. Because I quickly recognized his signature sweatshirt and terrifying smirk, and I knew he could be no one else but John Laurens. Apparently he only showed his face when he was about to try to beat someone up. Emphasis on _try_.

His eyes were pinning me down just as much as his arms were. I couldn't really escape, so I just calmly looked at him.

"Hello, there."

Laurens blinked, seemingly surprised by my lack of fear. "Hello. You're Hamilton, right?"

"That depends," I shrugged. "If I'm not, would you let me go?" Laurens actually laughed a little. "I'll take that as a no." Laurens shoved me again, making my head hit the lockers once more. I tried not to show any reaction.

"I heard that you're an annoying little prick," Laurens told me. "I don't like annoying little pricks."

"So, I'm guessing you don't like yourself that much, then?" I smirked at him. He scowled.

"You're a smart ass, too, huh?"

"Well, yes, actually. I am quite intelligent." Laurens gripped my shirt collar and pulled me towards him until our faces were mere inches apart.

"I can tell I'm gonna have fun with you."

I narrowed my eyes flirtatiously at him. "I wouldn't mind if you had a little _fun_ with me, either."

" _Ugh!_ " Laurens cried out in disgust, finally letting me go by throwing me against the lockers again. I felt the familiar sensation of a throbbing head, but I shook it away. "You're a fucking fag, too?"

"Mostly," I casually replied, facing Laurens and tightening my ponytail. "I mean, I assume you meant to say gay. If you didn't, then we have a problem." I glared at him. He glared at me back and took a step towards me.

"You know, I was only going to do this because that Frenchie made me, but now I _really_ want to."

"To do what, exactly?" Laurens smirked even wider and creepier, and for the first time in a long time, I felt nearly afraid. Nearly.

Then, Laurens took another step forward and simply said, "This." I saw the punch to the gut before it actually hit me. Laurens was stronger than he looked. Fortunately, I was used to getting hit by people much bigger and stronger than him, so the pain wasn't nearly as much as I was accustomed to. Nevertheless, the breath was knocked out of me, and I stumbled backwards. Before I could catch my breath, Laurens came at me again, holding me by the shoulders and kneeing me in the stomach. I had to cough to get my lungs to work again. This was about the time I decided I was sick of this shit, so the next time Laurens came towards me, I elbowed him in the nose.

Laurens stepped back in shock and pain. I had a feeling not many people fought back when he attacked them. I tried to get away, but Laurens grabbed me again, by my hair this time. He pulled me backwards, then punched me directly in the face. He must have been upset that I didn't react much, because he punched me again. I fell to the floor in a daze, my vision a bit blurred. I quickly reeled back and kicked Laurens between the legs. This seemed to be the only thing that affected him. He dropped like a weight onto his knees, groaning in pain.

I hurried to stand up before he recovered, flipping him off as I ran.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Alexander**_

Well, Mrs. Adams was going to kill me. I had found a pretty reflective picture frame on the wall as I was running, looked in it, and saw that large, dark bruises were already forming on my face. It would be a miracle if I could come up with an excuse that Mrs. Adams actually believed.

I sighed. I figured I might as well go to the bathroom and try to clean myself up before I left. The school was thankfully empty by now, so I didn't have to deal with people staring at me or asking questions.

However, I was apparently completely wrong. When I went into the bathroom, I seemed to startle the boy in there. Thomas Jefferson was standing at the sink and jumped five feet into the air when I walked in next to him.

"Hey, Thomas," I said.

"H-Hello, Alexander," Thomas quietly responded. "What are you still doing here?"

"Well, my...my foster mom is running late, which is fine, but I also had to deal with Laurens, which is probably obvious." When I looked in the mirror, I saw that I was right. The bruises were bright, now, and I sighed at the sight of them. Apparently, I had a small cut on my eyebrow, as well.

"Oh...oh, my God. Are-Are you okay? I mean, no, you aren't. Duh. You're hurt. Do you want help? I could...I could..." Thomas started to sift through his bag as I stared at him, confused. Eventually, he pulled out a small box. First aid.

"Oh, uh, you don't need to help. I'll be fine."

Thomas froze, looking disappointed. "Oh." He began to put his box away. "O-Okay..." The disappointment on his face had leaked into his voice. I felt bad, for some reason.

"Wait, I...I guess..." I mentally sighed. "If you think it'll help me somehow, then...go ahead."

"R-Really?"

"I...yeah."

"Okay." Thomas placed the first aid box on the sink and opened it. He took out a cloth and ran it under the sink water. Before I was prepared, Thomas reached out his hand to touch the cloth to the cut above my eye. I flinched and jumped back. Thomas flinched, as well, holding his arms to his chest. "Sorry, sorry. I...here, you can do it." Thomas held the cloth out to me.

I looked at Thomas. He had a certain...panic in his eyes. It looked so familiar to me.

"No, it's okay," I assured Thomas. "I was just...caught off guard, is all. You can go ahead. I'm sure you'll be better at it, anyway." Thomas looked at me as if he had never heard something like that before. He shyly nodded and moved closer again.

I closed my eyes as Thomas pressed the wet cloth against my face. He was very gentle about it, which was...nice. He slowly patted the bruises on my face with the wet cloth, and I just...let him. I hadn't let anyone take care of me in so long...

When Thomas moved the cloth down to my cheeks, I opened my eyes a little. Thomas seemed to have gotten closer to me; I supposed it was because he needed to bend down a bit to meet my height. He didn't seem to notice that I was looking at him. His eyes were slightly glazed over, his lips parted.

That at was the moment I realized that Thomas looked cute. Kind of. Hmm.

"Why are you still here?" I asked Thomas, startling him. His eyes focused on me again.

"My mom was held up at work and my dad...he is, too." A deep frown covered Thomas' face. I didn't question him.

"You don't drive?" Thomas shook his head.

"No. My anxiety is too bad for that. I...I'm scared of it..." Thomas shyly bit his lip, turning away to put the cloth back in his box. He took out a small bottle of ointment and a cotton ball. He put some of the ointment on the cotton and pressed it against the cut on my head. "I, uh, I hope that helps."

"Yeah. Thank you." Thomas began to pack up just as I heard my phone ring in my bag. I hurried to take it out and answer it. "Hey, Mrs. Adams."

"Hi, Alex," my caretaker greeted cheerfully. "I'm outside, now, if you're ready to go."

"Okay. I'll be out in a minute." I was about to head out, but my eyes caught on Thomas. He was biting the inside of his cheek like he was nervous. Before my call with Mrs. Adams could end, I asked, "Hey, uh...can we give my, um, my friend a ride home?" I watched Thomas' head turn to face me quickly, shock filling his eyes.

"Oh, of course," Mrs. Adams said. "I'd be happy to."

"Okay. Thanks, Mrs. Adams. I'll see you out there." I hung up and looked at Thomas. "Come on. I'm giving you a ride."

I had barely finished speaking when Thomas began saying, "Oh, no, you-you don't have to. Really. I can just...I can wait for my mom."

"Do you know when she'll get here?"

"Well...no. But-"

"Then, come on. It's fine. Mrs. Adams doesn't mind."

"I-I..." Thomas' eyes darted around, before his shoulders dropped in defeat. "Okay..." Thomas followed me out of the school, his body tense and his head hanging. When we got to the car, I opened the back door for Thomas, then I slid into the seat next to him. I supposed I could have sat in the front like I usually do, but I didn't.

"Hello," Mrs. Adams smiled at me and Thomas.

"H-Hello," Thomas whispered, his voice barely heard.

"This is Thomas," I said, knowing that Thomas most likely didn't want to talk.

"Nice to meet you, Thomas," Mrs. Adams said. Thomas just shyly nodded in response. "Where do you live, Thomas?" Thomas quietly rattled off his address, and Mrs. Adams began to drive.

The ride to Thomas' house was pretty quiet, but not too awkward. I noticed that the houses seemed to get bigger as we got closer to our destination. We eventually stopped at a large, red brick house.

"This is it," Thomas faintly said. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Of course, Thomas," Mrs. Adams said. "Have a nice day." Thomas nodded and got out of the car. He waved a bit at me, then hurried into his house. Once he was inside, Mrs. Adams pulled out of the driveway and started to drive to her house. We were silent for no more than a minute. "So...you two are friends, then?"

"I...I guess. We don't really talk thatmuch. I sit next to him at lunch."

"Uh-huh..." Mrs. Adams sounded too suspicious for me to not ask about what she was entailing.

"What?"

"What?"

"Why did you sound so suspicious?"

"Oh, nothing. He seems nice, is all."

"He...he is."

"You like him?" Mrs. Adams blatantly asked me. I jolted.

" _What?_ " The reason this was so surprising was that I had never told Mrs. Adams-or anyone, for that matter-that I was Bi. I usually didn't expect the people I stayed with to be okay with it. "I don't-no, I don't."

"Mhm. Okay."

"Where did this even come from?"

"You just seemed to be acting really nice to him."

"I can just be nice to people. Wouldn't you want me to do that, considering I'm generally rude to everyone all the time?"

"You aren't that bad, Alexander."

"Pretty sure you're just saying that." Mrs. Adams shook her head.

"You're a good kid, Alex. It's just that you've dealt with bad people in your life, so you've built up an intolerance." I crossed my arms.

"Sure. Yeah, I guess."

"Things will turn out well, Alex. I swear. I mean, hey, you've already made a friend. That's great."

"I...yeah...but I don't like him like that." Mrs. Adams smirked at me through the rear view mirror. I pretended I wasn't blushing.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Alexander_**

Something was wrong with me. After school that day, I couldn't focus on anything. It took me twice as long to do my homework, and I just picked at my food at dinner. Mrs. Adams asked me if I was okay, and I said I was fine, but I wasn't entirely sure.

I went to bed early that night, but I couldn't fall asleep. My thoughts were running wild-more wild than usual. It was 11:30 at night when I gave up on sleeping and went to my desk to write. I turned on the desk light, grabbed my journal and a pencil, and sat down, letting everything in my head fly onto the paper.

 _Thomas Jefferson. How many times have I written about him already? Twice? Three times? Regardless, he has been on my mind. Ever since my run-in with Laurens, I have not been able to get it out of my head how cute_

I scratched out the word.

 _kind Thomas was to me. In fact, he is probably the kindest person I have met in a long time. He helped me without needing to, at all. I did not even ask for his assistance, but he decided to help,_ _regardless. I do not understand why he would do such a thing. We hardly know each other._

 _Then why do I feel so connected to him?_

 _I suppose because I recognize his apprehension to talk about his father. I understand his large amounts of fear towards those who could harm him. I get why he tries so hard to cover his arms and tugs on his sleeves whenever he gets so anxious. I know why he is like this because I was like this, too. I still am, occasionally._

 _I want to help him through this. I do not know why, but I do. Maybe because he is the closest thing I have ever had to a friend. Maybe because I think I_

* * *

I was still sitting at the desk when I woke up. I had fallen asleep in the middle of writing. I didn't have time to finish what I had been writing, now; I had to get ready for school.

Mrs. Adams made me eat a small breakfast before we left, which I felt was wasting my time, but I ate, anyway. I stared out the window on the way to school, for once, not really thinking about much.

Instead of going to the library before school like I usually did, I stayed in the main room and searched for Thomas. I found him and his friends sitting at a table in the corner. They all looked shocked when they saw me, but didn't oppose when I sat down next to Maria so I could face Thomas.

"Hey," I greeted. I only got a few small waves in response. "Do you guys ever, you know, talk to each other?" I asked them. Thomas nodded.

"We just...we aren't used to there being someone else around us," Maria said quietly.

"That doesn't mean you don't have to talk," I said. "You don't have to keep yourselves quiet, since I clearly want to be around you." No one responded. I sighed.

After a minute, "You-You want to be around us?" It was quiet, but I recognized Thomas' voice. I looked up at him. I was pretty sure he was blushing slightly.

"Well, yeah, sure. You're very nice." Thomas' blush darkened. "All of you."

"O-Okay..." Thomas stared down at the table.

Then, completely on a whim, I asked, "Can I have your phone numbers?" I watched as all of their eyes widened. Maria and James both looked at Thomas, who just gaped at me. "What?"

"Uhm..." Thomas' eyes darted around the room. The bell rang, and Thomas shot up without answering me. I looked to James and Maria, but they just got up and followed Thomas. I sighed and shook my head.

"Never mind," I muttered to myself.

* * *

 ** _Thomas_**

My number. He asked for my _number_. Well, he asked for all of our numbers, but I still wanted to swoon. I had to keep my distance from Alexander throughout my walk to home room so that I could clear my head. James and Maria came into the room and sat down right after me.

"Dude, he asked for your number," James said excitedly.

"Shush!" I slapped James' arm lightly, blushing.

"You have to give it to him," Maria said.

"I...he asked for your numbers, too, you know."

Maria shrugged. "We don't have crushes on him." I looked away from them as Alexander walked into the room. I avoided looking at him, even when he sat down next to me. He started to write in his notebook, and Maria passed me a note.

 _Are you going to give him your number or not?_

 _If I do, I have to give him your numbers, too._

Maria discussed this with James for a minute.

 _Go ahead. As long as you get closer to getting with him._

I blushed again.

 _Fine_.

I wrote everything down, then turned to hand the paper to Alexander, but I froze.

Laurens was coming towards us. I began to panic, shoving the note into my pocket and looking down. Alexander didn't seem to notice Laurens, so I tried to warn him, but I moved too slow. Laurens stood in front of where Alexander sat, grabbing his pencil away. Alexander looked up and glared at Laurens.

"What the hell do you want?" Alexander scowled. Laurens had his hood up, so all I could see was his creepy smirk.

"I want revenge," Laurens answered. "You think you can just do what you did to me?"

"Actually, yes. I do think I can fight back when someone is attacking me."

Laurens leaned down to Alexander's level. "Listen, kid. No one is allowed to talk back to me."

Alexander leaned up to Laurens with a playful grin on his face. "What are you going to do about it?"

Laurens grabbed Alexander by the shirt, pulling him closer. "I'm going to beat your ass."

"Stand in line." Laurens reeled his fist back, but Alexander stopped him by saying, "There's still a teacher in here, you know." Laurens growled and shoved Alexander back into his seat.

"I will destroy you."

"Tell your boss that you'll try your best."

"I don't need to. You made this personal." Laurens turned around and stormed over to his own seat. Alexander smoothed out his shirt and ran a hand through his hair.

"You're too brave for your own good," I whispered to him.

"At least I can say I'm brave." Alexander shrugged. I nodded.

"So...um..." I shyly pushed some of my hair behind my ear.

"Yeah?" Alexander looked at me with those entrancing eyes of his. I felt my face grow warm.

"Here." I held out the paper with my and my friends' phone numbers on it.

"Oh. Thanks." Alexander smiled at me and took the paper. Our fingers brushed together for a split second, and we met eyes. I quickly looked away, blushing more. "Um...I'll text you after school, okay?"

I still avoided looking at him. "Alright." My voice was barely a squeak.

Alexander laughed quietly.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Alexander**_

Although I talked a lot, I was terrible at making conversation. Therefore, I had no idea what to say when I texted Thomas for the first time. It was certainly strange to see five contacts in my phone instead of two.

My hands shook as I opened a new message for Thomas and simply wrote a hello.

 **You:** Hello. This is Alexander. This is Thomas, I presume?

I didn't get an answer for a very long time. Two hours and forty-eight minutes, in fact. I was so surprised by the text tone that I accidentally scratched a line of ink across the paper I was writing on. I took a deep breath before looking at my phone.

 **Thomas:** Hello, Alexander. This is Thomas.

My stomach-I think-did a flip for no reason.

 **You:** Wonderful. How are you, today?

Thomas didn't respond for a few minutes.

 **Thomas:** I'm alright. How are you?

 **You:** I am good, as well. I am glad to have your number.

Thomas didn't respond for another few minutes.

 **Thomas:** Why's that?

 **You:** I enjoy talking to you, I suppose. No one has ever been this willing to talk to me, before.

I kind of regretted saying that last part, but I had already hit send, so I didn't dwell on it.

Thomas seemed to like waiting a while to reply.

 **Thomas:** I enjoy talking to you, too.

 **You:** Are you busy? I do not mean to bother you.

Thomas answered right away this time.

 **Thomas:** No. I'm just a little anxious.

 **You:** I am sorry. Why are you anxious?

 **Thomas:** No particular reason.

 **You:** Well, I hope you feel better, soon.

Thomas took a while, again.

 **Thomas:** Thank you

I couldn't think of anything else to say.

* * *

I was starting to get more comfortable with sitting next to people at lunch. It seemed like Thomas and his friends were becoming more comfortable with me, as well. They started talking to me more-well, Thomas was still very shy, but he talked regardless.

Of course, unless someone like Laurens decides to show up.

Thomas' eyes had widened, so I immediately knew something was wrong. I turned and saw that Laurens was coming towards us with a smirk on his face. People turned their heads, trying to see what he was going to do.

Laurens was coming for me, I assumed, so I stood and stepped down the stairs towards him.

"What do you want, Laurens?" I had barely finished asking the question when Laurens punched me in the face. I heard someone gasp behind me as I held my cheek and stretched my jaw to try to alieve some of the pain. "Okay, then." I punched Laurens back. He hit me in the gut a couple of times, knocking the breath out of me. While I was incapacitated, Laurens threw me onto a table, where people were still trying to eat their lunch. I felt bad that I had to ruin that in so many ways.

I stayed down, laying on the table as if badly injured, while Laurens laughed at me. I hoped he wasn't allergic to peanuts. Well, I clearly didn't care all that much, as I grabbed someone's half eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich, turned, and shoved it in Laurens' face. I heard more gasps. Someone started laughing. Cameras clicked. Underneath the condiments, Laurens' face was red in anger and embarrassment. He was no longer smiling.

All of my observations had happened in a second. While Laurens was still stunned, I rushed towards him, grabbed him by his sweatshirt, and shoved him down onto another table, directly onto a tray of food. He eventually pushed me off of him and we exchanged punches for a while. I barely even noticed when the room went quiet.

Someone grabbed my shirt and pulled me backwards as someone else did the same to Laurens, who kept trying to swing at me. I glared at him as the teachers dragged us to the office. Laurens got his face cleaned up in the nurse's office while I waited in the front.

Ms. Hemmings was staring at me, but every time I looked up, she looked away. I could feel my eye swelling, and I had to hold my hand against my eyebrow to stop the bleeding. I knew my stomach was bruising. I wished Thomas could be around to help me.

Laurens walked out of the nurse's office. He wasn't wearing his sweatshirt, anymore, which was certainly an interesting sight. He was actually fairly slim, but his arm muscles were quite defined. I realized he was glaring at me. I looked away. He sat in the chair farthest from me.

"Listen," I said calmly, "if you didn't want to get beaten in a fight, you shouldn't have decided to fight me."

"Shut the hell up," Laurens growled.

"I know that you're upset that you lost to me-"

"Like hell I did."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, okay."

"I will fucking destroy you."

"If you could, you would have already."

Laurens stood up, stepped towards me, and grabbed me by my shirt collar. He scowled at me as he lifted me up. I smiled at him, even when he moved to punch me.

"Mr. Laurens, put him down." I looked behind Laurens to see Mr. Washington standing there, glaring at us. "You two. My office. Now." He turned and went into his office. Laurens snarled and shoved me backwards before following the vice principal. I sighed.

Mrs. Adams was definitely going to be mad at me.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Thomas**_

Alexander had a two day suspension. Laurens was to be gone for a week. One of these things was great. The other felt like torture, and not just because Lafayette kept sneaking glances and my friends and I.

At lunch, I was surprised to get a text.

 **Alexander:** Hey, can you do something for me?

 **You:** Of course. What is it?

I was worried that I sounded too eager, but Alexander didn't seem to notice.

 **Alexander:** Could you get my homework from my classes?

 **You:** Yeah I can do that.

 **Alexander:** Wonderful. Can I come to your house tonight to pick it up?

Before I could think about it enough to refuse, I said yes. And then I started to panic.

"Shit, shit, shit," I muttered.

"What?" James asked.

"I just told Alexander that he could come over to my house tonight."

"Oh. Isn't that a good thing?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

James and Maria sighed.

"Well, if Eliza came to my house, I'd be ecstatic."

"She's not going to do that," Maria said. James pouted. I just worried about how I was going to have an anxiety attack after school.

* * *

 ** _Alexander_**

Mrs. Adams drove me to Thomas' house after school to get my homework. I had remembered his address, of course. I wasn't sure why I felt so nervous when I walked up to the door and knocked.

A woman that looked a lot like Thomas opened the door and smiled widely at me. I found myself thinking that Thomas should smile like that.

"Hello," the woman said. "You must be Thomas' new friend. I'm his mother."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ma'am," I greeted quietly.

"You may call me Jane."

I just nodded, still caught up on the "Thomas' new friend" line.

"Thomas is up in his room. Second to the left."

I nodded again, then hurried up the stairs. I found the room, then gently knocked on the door. I heard a faint yelp and smiled a bit. The door opened just a crack, and I smiled more at Thomas' face. "Hello, Thomas." Thomas slowly opened the door farther.

"Hello," Thomas said.

"Your mom let me in."

"Oh. Come in, then." Thomas stepped away from the door, and I walked into his room. The walls were covered with posters from video games, the desk was covered with fictional books, and the television on the wall opposite to the bed was connected to multiple gaming systems.

"Your room is nice," I mentioned. "Your house, too."

"Thanks."

I rocked on my heels and went to touch the fluffy purple blanket on Thomas' bed. I gestured to the posters, then the books. "I've never played any of these games before. Or read those books. I usually read nonfiction."

"Oh. They're really good."

"I'll have to check them out some time."

"I, uh, I got your homework." I turned to see Thomas holding out a stack of papers. I took them.

"Thank you." Thomas nodded. We just stared awkwardly at each other for a moment. "I...guess I should get going, then." I turned around, but Thomas stopped me.

"Can I ask you something?" It sounded like Thomas had to force the question out. I faced him again.

"Yes."

"Why...Why did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Fight Laurens."

"Oh. Well, he hit me. I'm not going to let that slide. I got tired of doing that."

Thomas' face showed both confusion and concern. "Well...I think it'd be better if you didn't fight him anymore. It just aggravates him more."

"I don't care. I seem to be the only person who fights back, so I figure I should set an example."

"But you'll get in trouble again. And you'll get hurt." Thomas looked down at the floor. "I don't want you to get hurt anymore."

"I'm fine," I promised. "Besides, if I get hurt, you could always help me with the first aid."

Thomas' cheeks turned pink. "I-I suppose...but it would be better if you didn't get hurt, at all."

"Yeah, well, it's not my fault that Laurens and Lafayette hate me."

Thomas sighed and hugged his arms to his chest. "I know. I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." Thomas didn't respond. "Well, thanks again for getting my homework."

"Yeah. No problem."

I nodded to him and started to leave. "Hey, uh...we should hang out sometime. Like, outside of school."

Although Thomas was still staring at the floor, I saw his eyes widen and his blush darken significantly. "Uhm...y-yeah. Yeah, sure. Definitely."

I smiled at him. "Cool. I'll see you in a couple days." I waved slightly and headed out.

I heard a quiet "Goodbye" behind me.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Alexander_**

I was actually fairly excited to see Thomas when I went back to school. I supposed I shouldn't have been surprised, anymore. Thomas seemed happy to see me, too. He started talking to me more, and he smiled a little, as well. I liked it.

I figured that everything was going well.

Thomas and I sat next to each other in math, like usual. I pushed my desk a bit closer to his. He turned away, but I caught the blush on his face. It distracted me from the person standing in front of us.

"Move, loser." When I looked up, I realized that Eliza was standing there, glaring at Thomas.

"Don't call him that," I said without thinking.

Eliza acted as if I wasn't there. She bent down and snarled in Thomas' face, "I told you to move." Thomas glanced at me in panic, but before I could do anything, he stood up and hurried to the other side of the room. I sighed and stood to follow him, but Eliza grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back into my chair with surprising strength. "You're sitting by me, today, cutie."

"Oh, God," I grumbled. "What do you want?"

"You're really good at fighting." Eliza leaned halfway out of her chair towards me, twirling her hair around her finger.

I dropped my head into my hands, muttering, "You've got to be kidding me."

"I've never seen anyone beat Laurens before. It's really impressive."

"Thanks. Can you stop-"

"Are you doing anything this weekend?"

That was certainly startling. "Why?"

"I think you should come to the mall with my sisters and I."

"Why is that?"

"It'll make them sooo jealous."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. They're totally in love with you right now. But you'll be dating me so-"

I quickly turned to face her. "When was that established?"

"Just now."

"No, it wasn't."

"Yeah. You agreed to go out with me."

"No, I didn't. I don't want to go out with you."

Eliza scoffed. "Sure you do. Everyone does. I'm irresistible." She flipped her hair.

"In that case, I'm sure there's someone else you can ask to go to the mall with you, because I'd rather not."

"Oh, come on. Don't lie to yourself."

"I actually hate you."

Apparently, Eliza decided to change her approach. She leaned closer and touched my arm. I noticed that she not-so-discreetly pushed up her cleavage. "I'm sure I can help you change that."

"Let go of me."

Eliza slowly slid her hand down my arm, then my hand, then my leg, then I grabbed her by the wrist and twisted until I heard something pop. Eliza gasped and pulled her hand away. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"You literally just tried to sexually harass me."

"I bet you would have liked it if that dumb Thomas kid did it."

I hated it that my cheeks became hot. "He's not dumb."

"You know what? You're right. You're the dumb one for wanting to be with him instead of me."

"I don't-we aren't dating."

Eliza scoffed again. "I don't even know why I bothered trying," she fussed to herself. "I should have just told Peggy or Angelica to do this. Stupid Lafayette."

I started. "What about Lafayette?"

Eliza sighed over dramatically. "He's all like 'Talk to Hamilton. Get with Hamilton. Hamilton, Hamilton, Hamilton. I wouldn't be surprised if he wanted to sleep with you."

I gaped at Eliza. It was already odd that she had told me about that, at all, but it was weirder that Lafayette was apparently talking about me this much. Of course, he was probably only talking about me because he wanted to try to ruin me. It almost made me laugh when I thought about how Lafayette had to ask for help with that.

"Still," Eliza said, "sleeping with me would be way better."

"And we're back."

* * *

At lunch, I told Thomas, James, and Maria what had happened with Eliza. I didn't repeat what Eliza had said about Thomas, but he went pale, anyway.

"They're all after you," Thomas squeaked. "God, you're going to die."

"I'll be fine," I said. "I can deal with them."

"But what if they-"

"Thomas, I'll be fine." I met Thomas' eyes. They were full of such worry. As if he actually cared about me. "I promise." Thomas' eyes darted all over my face. I couldn't help but watch them.

"You promise?"

I lightly placed my hand on Thomas'. "I promise."


	15. Chapter 15

_**Alexander**_

I offered Thomas a ride home after school again. After a few minutes of nervous arguing, Thomas agreed. We waited in the library together after school and read or worked on homework. I caught myself repeatedly glancing up at Thomas from behind my book. Once, I looked up and saw Thomas looking at me, as well. We both quickly turned away. I was relieved when Mrs. Adams texted me, saying she was at the school.

Thomas followed me out of the library and down the hall. Neither of us spoke, so it was easy to hear the footsteps that came from around the corner. I wasn't very surprised to see Lafayette and Mulligan when they appeared in front of us. I heard Thomas gasp quietly behind me, so I stood in front of him protectively.

"Ah, just the person I wanted to see," Lafayette said with a smirk.

"Not the time, _salope_." I grabbed Thomas' arm and tried to walk around Lafayette, but Mulligan stepped in front of me. "Get out of my way."

"Thomas Jefferson." Lafayette snapped his fingers. Thomas flinched in my grasp. "Go on and leave. This has nothing to do with you." Thomas rushed away from me and back towards the library. I tried to go after him, but Mulligan grabbed my shoulder and held me still. I glared at him and his stupid boyfriend.

"What do you want?" I growled. Lafayette walked circles around me, eyeing me up and down.

"I want you to do something for me," Lafayette eventually said.

"And what's that?"

"Simple. Fight Laurens more."

I crossed my arms. "Why?"

"Because. It's...entertaining."

"That's great. I don't care." I tried to walk away again, but Lafayette pressed his hand to my chest.

"I hope you didn't think that was a suggestion. You will fight Laurens more."

"No, I won't."

Lafayette moved his hand to my chin. "Yes, you will. And, in return, I will give you...encouragements. Anything you want."

"I don't want anything."

Lafayette hummed, glancing down the hall. He walked around me again, pushing Mulligan away from me. Lafayette stood behind me, ran his hands down my chest, and turned me around so that I faced the library. "It doesn't have to be a _thing_ that I give you," Lafayette whispered seductively in my ear.

"What does that mean?" I huffed.

"I've seen the way you look at that Thomas. I can help you get him."

I sucked in a breath. "I...I don't need your help. I don't want-"

Lafayette grazed his fingers over my chest, shoulders, and arms. "Sure you do. I know everything about him. I can tell you everything you'd need to know and everything you'd need to do to make him fall for you."

I gulped heavily. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I didn't know why I was so intrigued. I didn't know why part of me wanted to agree.

But I shook my head. "No."

"What?" Lafayette hissed. His grip tightened on my shoulders.

I pushed myself away from him. "I don't want that. I don't want to fight for no reason."

"Fine," Lafayette snarled. "Let's do this the hard way." Mulligan grabbed my arms and held them behind me. He was too strong to struggle away from. I already knew I would end up with bruises on my wrists. Lafayette lifted my chin to look at him. "You will continue to fight Laurens, or I will ruin your life."

"Try me, bitch," I spat.

Lafayette tsked and pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapping it a few times. He read off his phone, "Alexander Hamilton has been in the foster care system for four years. Ever since his mother died of a disease when he was twelve, he's been through eleven different foster homes. His behavioral issues have become the cause of many transfers, and seem to only be getting worse." Lafayette smiled at me. "Should I go on?"

"I don't care if everyone knows. I'm not that easily broken."

"Hm." Lafayette walked around me again. "How about I ruin someone else, instead?"

I scoffed. "Do you think I'm really going to care-"

"Thomas seems quite afraid of getting hurt, doesn't he?"

My eyes widened. "Don't you dare."

"Oh? Defensive, are we?"

"He has nothing to do with this."

"He does now. If you do not do as I say, I will make sure that he gets hurt every day until you agree with me."

"How about I just beat your ass until you leave him alone?"

"That just sounds counter productive, doesn't it?" Lafayette stepped closer to me. "I have the power to kill, Alexander. I'm sure you wouldn't want that."

"If you hurt him, I'll-"

"You'll what? Anything you try will just make me do more to your little friend."

"I...you can't-"

"I can and I will. And you can't stop me. Unless..."

"I'm not going to follow your orders."

"So be it." Lafayette turned and began to walk towards to library.

"Don't!" I tried to go for Lafayette, but Mulligan still held me back. Lafayette just kept walking. "Stop. Don't hurt him. Don't..." Lafayette was about to turn the corner. I couldn't let him hurt Thomas. I couldn't. "Fine!" Lafayette stopped. "Fine. I'll do your fucking dirty work. Just leave him alone."

Lafayette twirled around, clapping his hands together. "Wonderful." He started walking back towards me, already telling me what to do. "You will continue to fight Laurens as much as possible, unless I say otherwise. To keep things dramatic, you will let Laurens win sometimes, of course. I doubt that will be too difficult."

"What do I get out of this?" I grumbled.

"Well, since you refused my first offers, you will only have the knowledge that I will not hurt your friend. Unless you disobey me, of course."

I sighed. It was good enough. "Okay. Fine. Can you tell your mindless boyfriend to let go of me?" I should have expected the smack across my face. Lafayette held my chin tightly and forced me to look at him.

"Saying things like that will only hurt your cause. You will not speak like that to me or Hercules again, understand?"

I glared at him, but said, "Fine." Lafayette smiled sweetly and patted my cheek.

"Good boy." Lafayette snapped his fingers, and Mulligan let go of me, but pushed me to the ground, as well. I rubbed at my sore wrists. Mulligan wrapped his arm around Lafayette, and they kissed in front of me. I tried to convince myself that I wasn't jealous. Lafayette waved at me as if we were friends. "Au revoir. Pleasure doing business with you." They left.

As I got up and headed to the library, I mentally scolded myself for being so weak. I couldn't believe I had agreed to doing what Lafayette wanted. I hated that I had practically given up my freedom just to protect...

Thomas stood fidgeting outside of the library. He appeared to be holding back tears. When he saw me, he ran up to me and immediately began fussing. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I-I should have stayed with you to help but I...I couldn't...I couldn't-"

"Thomas," I silenced him, "I'm okay."

"But your arms. You're bruising. A-And your face. Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god." A tear rolled down Thomas' cheek, quickly followed by several more. I stepped close to him, reached up, and wiped his tears away. He sniffled and seemed to relax at the touch.

"It'll be okay, Thomas," I promised. "Everything is going to be okay." Thomas hesitantly went to brush his fingers against my cheek where Lafayette had slapped me. As soon as Thomas touched the skin, however, he pulled his hand away. I took his hand and put it back where it was and held it there. Thomas tensed up, so I continued to lightly caressed his cheek. Eventually, Thomas got more used to it, and calmly gazed at me as we held each other like this. His eyes were oddly hypnotizing. I couldn't help but move closer.

Then closer.

Then closer.

Then my phone chimed. We both flinched and jumped back from each other. My face red, I took out my phone and quickly responded to Mrs. Adams' text. When I looked up again, Thomas was staring at the ground, biting his lip.

"I...guess we should get going," I sighed. Thomas just nodded. "Let's go, then." Thomas and I walked out together. He sat as far away from me as he could in the car.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Alexander**_

It wasn't that bad in the beginning. Lafayette would only let Laurens come for me during times when we wouldn't really be caught. Thomas had once told me that Lafayette was even capable of distracting the teachers and swaying their opinions, and apparently that was true. Thomas kept asking me why I kept fighting but never got in trouble. I couldn't tell him why.

I felt awful for what I was doing, but only because of how upset Thomas was. He hated it when I fought, but I didn't have a choice. I had to keep him safe, and this was the only way how.

Thomas practically had a panic attack every time I got a black eye or started to bleed, but I let him take care of me each time until he felt better.

"You really should stop doing this," Thomas told me as he held an ice pack to my eye. "You don't have any reason to."

"I kind of do, actually," I muttered.

"What reason could there possibly be?"

I looked at Thomas' face for a moment. "He keeps trying to hurt me. I'm just defending myself. Would you rather I didn't do that and got even more hurt?"

Thomas bit his lip. "No." He looked down. "I guess...I guess I just...I wouldn't fight back if he was attacking me."

I moved to get into Thomas' line of sight, which wasn't difficult considering how tall he was compared to me. "That's why I'm here. If anyone tries to hurt you, they'll have to get through me, first." Thomas blushed and turned away more.

"I will never understand you," Thomas whispered.

"You don't always need to understand why someone does something nice." Thomas still didn't look at me, so I reached up and lifted his chin so he faced me. "Hey. I like you. You're a good person who doesn't deserve bad stuff like that. Is that a good enough reason for you?"

Thomas shrugged. "It's...debatable."

"No, it's not. You're wonderful, Thomas."

He blushed more and stayed silent. I sighed.

* * *

Lafayette and I shared a single class. I had always hated it, but before he would at least leave me alone. Now that I was pretty much working for him, he would try to talk to me everyday.

"The Schuyler sisters are having a party on Friday night," Lafayette decided to tell me.

"Okay," I responded, my voice blank. "So?"

"So, you're going."

I looked up from my notebook and glared at Lafayette. "What? No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"You can't tell me what to do with my life."

"I remember differently."

"Our deal was that I fight Laurens. Not that I do _everything_ you want me to."

"You might also recall that part of our deal involves me hurting your precious little Thomas if you disobeyed me."

"I don't want to go to a stupid party."

"I don't care. You will come, or your boyfriend will get hurt."

"He's not my boyfriend," I growled.

Lafayette rolled his eyes. "Sure he isn't."

"He isn't."

"Why else would you be so protective of him?"

"Because you're an asshole."

Lafayette rolled his eyes again. "And to think I thought you were smart."

"What does that mean?"

"I know you like him. It is obvious."

My face heated up. I desperately tried to ignore it.

"I can still help you win him over. It won't be that hard. All you have to do is listen to me." Lafayette lightly trailed his fingers over my jawline. I swallowed heavily. I couldn't believe I was about to do this.

"I'll go to the party, okay?"

"Wonderful, chéri. Text me your address on Friday. I will pick you up at seven."

"Whatever," I mumbled, already regretting my decision. I had nearly forgotten that Lafayette had put himself in my phone's contacts. I couldn't risk deleting it. I couldn't risk doing anything, anymore.

So why could I only think about whether or not Lafayette would actually help me?


	17. Chapter 17

_**Alexander**_

I doubted that anyone would be surprised if I told them I was not excited for this party. I didn't bother getting ready in any special way. There was no point. It wasn't like I was going to do anything but try to leave early, anyway. I just waited in the front room of my foster home and waited for Lafayette to arrive. I couldn't back out now.

Of course Lafayette had a fucking G wagon.

I grumpily got into the passenger seat of the black car. It smelled oddly like vanilla.

"Are you excited?" Lafayette asked me.

"What's the point of me going to this party, anyway?" I responded.

"You are so boring." Lafayette sighed.

"Is Laurens going to be there? Is that why? You want me to fight him and entertain everyone?"

"I haven't decided, yet."

"Great. Glad I gave you the idea." I stared out the window of the car for a while, then realized something. "Where's your boyfriend?"

Lafayette pursed his lips. "He is out with family."

I hummed, realizing something else: I didn't care.

The Schuylers lived in a mansion, apparently. Loud music blasted out of the open front door. A handful of high schoolers were standing around outside. Lafayette parked his car, then led me into the house. I stayed close to him as to not get lost in the crowd of possibly hundreds of kids.

The inside of the house reeked of alcohol, weed, and body odor. A _wonderful_ smell. I tried not to touch anyone, but it was unavoidable. Lafayette took me into the kitchen, where an assortment of alcoholic drinks stood on the counter. Lafayette downed two shots before he even stopped walking, then held one of the small glasses out to me. I shook my head.

"I'm not drinking," I said. I had to shout over the music.

"Yes, you are." Lafayette held the glass closer to my face. I stepped back, but bumped into someone. "Come on, Alexandre. It is just one shot."

"Oh, yeah, that totally makes it better."

"What? You haven't had a drink before?"

"No. I just don't want to get drunk."

"Ah, but _I_ want you to. So, you will."

"No. Fuck this."

I turned around and started to walk away, but Lafayette grabbed my wrist and held it tightly. He pulled me back towards him and growled, "You can't just listen, Alexander. You have to obey. If you want me to uphold my part of the deal, you must do as I instruct. Understand?"

I scowled at Lafayette. "Fuck you." I took the shot glass from his hand and downed it as fast as I could. I barely winced.

"Good boy." Lafayette smiled and handed me another shot. I drank it without argument this time. I could already feel it taking affect. Lafayette took my arm and dragged me into the living room, which was about the size of a pretty good apartment. It was packed full of kids, but Lafayette seemed to know where he was going.

In the corner of the room was a couch, on which lay none other than John Laurens. On top of him lay Peggy Schuyler. They were heavily making out and sharing a blunt. A lot of this was not shocking. Lafayette interrupted them, tapping Laurens and Peggy on their shoulders. They separated, both glaring at Lafayette.

"The hell do you want?" Laurens grumbled as Peggy started mouthing at his neck. I tried not to pay attention to that.

"Alexander here would like to try that." Lafayette pointed at the blunt Laurens was holding. Laurens snorted and laughed.

"I-I don't-" I tried to say.

Laurens sucked in a puff of smoke, then blew it in my face. I coughed and fanned the cloud away. Laurens laughed at me again. "Doesn't seem like he can handle it."

"He can," Lafayette assured. He gave me a pointed look. "He will." I crossed my arms and looked down.

Laurens snorted again. "Go find someone else with a blunt. I'm busy." He winked at Lafayette as he grabbed Peggy's butt. I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"Considering I gave you the money for that, it's basically mine."

"Not how that works, bitch." Laurens blew some smoke at Lafayette, who went unfazed.

"You either give it to me, or I pay you half of what I do now."

Laurens hesitated. "You're such a fuckin' prick, man." He held the blunt out, and Lafayette cheerfully took it and smoked it for a moment. Peggy dragged Laurens out of the room as he flipped me off. At least I didn't have to fight him.

"Here, chéri." Lafayette handed me the blunt. "Try it."

"I..." I didn't want to. I didn't want to be here or do any of this. I remembered that both my mother and Mrs. Adams had told me to refuse pressures like this. They didn't account for me having friends to protect. I sighed deeply and hesitantly wrapped my lips around the blunt and inhaled. I immediately coughed up a cloud of smoke. "Fucking hell," I gagged. Lafayette giggled at me.

"Again."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

I grumbled, but tried again. I didn't react as much this time, but it was still awful.

"Good boy."

"I'm not a dog."

"Mhm." Lafayette pulled me out of the room and to another living room, apparently. This one was even bigger, and seemed to be the main party area. The music was coming this room, and everyone was "dancing" to it. Lafayette navigated through the crowd until he stopped me in front of a girl. Eliza. Great.

"You brought him!" Eliza cheered when she saw me. She was already wasted. She grabbed me and hugged me for a second. "Come dance with me!"

"I'm good, thanks," I muttered, but Lafayette pushed me towards her, then pressed a beer into my hands.

"Drink two and you can stop dancing," Lafayette told me.

"You've gotta be kidding me." My head was already feeling fuzzy, but I took a swig of the drink, anyway. Lafayette disappeared as Eliza began to grind against me. I just drank, deciding that it would be better to black out and never remember any of this. With that thought in mind, I finished the four drinks Lafayette gave me pretty fast.

Eventually, Lafayette pushed Eliza away from me and dragged me out.

"Where're we goin'?" I asked.

"You'll see, chéri," Lafayette cooed. We went upstairs and stopped in front of a door. Lafayette made sure no one noticed us, then pushed me into the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

I stumbled to the bed and sat on it, raising an eyebrow. "What're ya doin'?"

"Don't worry, chéri."

"Stop callin' me th-that." I hiccuped. Lafayette walked up to me, lifting my chin. His eyes were red and his breath smelled heavily of...a lot of different intoxications. "Lafayette..."

"Yes, chéri?" Lafayette knelt on the bed, straddling me. My heartbeat pounded in my head.

"U-Um...L'fayette, I don' feel good."

"Shh...you will, soon, chéri." I sucked in a breath when Lafayette started rolling his hips against mine. The movement jostled my insides around. I squeezed my eyes shut in all sorts of discomfort.

"St-op." But Lafayette brushed his lips against mine. "Stop." I felt him unbutton my pants. " _Sto-_ "

Is it ironic that Lafayette forcing me to drink so much ended up being his own downfall? I think so.

I essentially projectile vomited all over Lafayette's face and chest and...well, everything. He screamed at a pitch only dogs should hear and jumped up, trying to wipe himself down. While he was distracted, I got up and ran to the door, fumbling to unlock and open it. As I ran down the hall, I bumped into Laurens and Peggy as they left another bedroom. Laurens shouted at me, but I couldn't understand what he was saying. I didn't care. I just had to get out of this goddamn house. Unfortunately, because of the amount of people, the size of the house, and my blurry, drunk vision and mind, I got turned around several times. I finally found a door that I could get outside through and escaped. The cool, fresh air helped to clear my mind just enough that I could think about what to do.

It was way too dark and I lived too far to walk. It was already far too late to call Mrs. Adams and ask her to pick me up. I didn't know the address, anyway. But who would? Who would? Who would?

I hid behind a big tree beside the house and sat against it. My head was throbbing. I threw up, again, but I barely noticed. I took my phone out and squinted at the bright screen. The words were all jumbled, but I knew what buttons to press. Leaning my head back against the tree and panting a bit, I listened to my phone ring over and over. No one answered. I called again. I called three times before it was finally picked up.

"H-Hello?" The voice was extremely quiet.

"Thomas," I gasped out.

"Alex? Why...why are you calling me...and so late?"

"I-I need you-" I hiccuped. "Your help."

Thomas paused. "What's wrong?"

"I...I'm at the party...I wanna leave, Tommy."

"I-wha-why are you at the party?"

"I dunno anymore. I wanna leave but I dunno how."

"Can't you just call your...um...mo-"

"Is too late."

"W-Well-"

"It's cold outside, Tommy."

"You're outside?'

"Mhm. I wanna go home, Tommy."

"I...I..." Thomas went quiet again. "I can't get you home right now."

"Why not?" I whined.

"I'm sorry. I just...I can't. But...can I bring you to my house for the night, instead? Would that be okay?"

I nodded.

"Alexander?"

"Yes. I wanna leave. L'fayette is mad at me."

"Oh, god," Thomas mumbled. "I'll be right over. Just...avoid...everyone."

"'Kay, Tommy."

"Y-Yeah. I-I'm going to go, now."

"'Kay, Tommy. Bye-bye. Love you."

"I...U-Um..." Thomas hung up.

I wrapped my arms around myself and waited.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Thomas**_

I stayed far away from the house and everyone in it when I got there. I just walked around the house until I found Alexander sitting against a tree. He looked...awful. Which was impressive, considering how insanely attractive he is. But, seriously, he looked awful. His ponytail was loose, he was sweating a lot, and parts of his clothes were stained with vomit.

"A-Alex?" I called out. Alexander looked up at me and smiled dopily.

"Tommy's here!" Alexander took a minute to figure out how to stand, then stumbled towards me. I caught him by the arm before he fell. He wrapped his arm around me, and I held him for support. "Are we goin' t' your house, now?"

"Yes. Come on." I helped Alex walk away from the house and towards the street. We moved quietly through the dark for a while.

"How'd you get here? You can't drive."

"I walked."

"All that way for me?"

"I...It's not that far."

"Hmmm."

"You're really drunk, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Alex giggled.

I sighed. "I figured."

"'m a little high, too, I think."

"Jesus, Alex..."

"'m sorry."

I didn't say anything. We didn't speak as we walked the last block to my house. Alexander threw up twice on the way, then once again in my backyard.

"Why're we going in the back?"

"Shh. Just be quiet." I opened the back door as silently as I could, wincing when it squeaked. I pushed Alex inside, and he tripped and nearly fell. I hurried in after him and closed the door again. It clicked only faintly, but I still panicked for a moment. "Okay, okay, okay. Upstairs." I took Alex's arm and pulled him to the stairs, helping him up. He almost fell a lot, but I caught him every time.

On the second floor, I rushed Alexander towards my room, continuously glancing at my parents' room. The moment Alex and I were in my room, I sighed deeply and leaned against the door.

"You c'n let go of me, now, Tommy." Alexander tugged on my arm. I let go of him, and he slowly stumbled over to my bed and sat down. "Your blanket's soft."

"Yeah." I went to my closet and took out my favorite sweatshirt. "Here. Wear this, instead. I can wash your clothes tomorrow."

"Okay." Alexander started taking his shirt off, and I started to blush. He moved slowly to undo the buttons, probably because he was wasted, but I freaked out, anyway. The skin underneath was smooth and light and... _oh, fuck, he has muscles..._

His shirt was dropped to the floor, and his pants came next. They were already undone, which made me suspicious until the denim had slid down his legs and were gone.

I was already asphyxiating when Alexander decided to take off his underwear.

"Wait, stop!" I hissed. Alex froze before I could see anything...interesting. "Just...just put on the sweatshirt." As soon as he took the sweatshirt from my hands, I turned away and hyperventilated for a minute.

"Are you 'kay, Tommy?"

"Y-Yeah," I squeaked. I jumped when something hit my back. I turned to find a hair tie on the floor. Alex's hair was down, now, which made him even cuter, somehow. It got worse when I really looked at him in my sweatshirt, which was probably five sizes too big for him. "My God..."

"Tommy, I gotta pee."

"Um...okay...the bathroom is next door. To the right." Alexander nodded and stood up. "Be quiet, please. And careful."

"I got this, Tommy." Alexander took one step and almost toppled to the ground. I caught him and walked him to the bathroom. I reluctantly let him go in alone, then heard shuffling and splashing noises for about five minutes, which was probably too long. When he opened the door, again, he said, "'Kay so I made a lil' mess but that's okay." I sighed and brought him back to my room. "m tired."

"Okay. You can...um...you can sleep in the bed. I'll just sleep on the floor-" I gasped when Alexander grabbed me and practically threw me onto the bed. Before I could get up, Alex climbed into bed with me and lay on top of me. He wrapped his arms around my torso and buried his face in my chest. I never realized how small he was until now. "Alex," I said before he could fall asleep. He looked up at me, his hair flying around him.

"Huh?"

"Why...why did you go to the party? And why did you drink and stuff?"

Alex didn't say anything for a while. He just stared through me. Eventually, he quietly said, "L'fayette made me."

"Why did you do it, though? It doesn't seem like you."

"He was gonna hurt you, Tommy." Alexander looked down and picked at the fabric of my shirt. "He said he was gonna hurt you if I didn't so I did. I went to the party and I drank and I smoked and I drank more and I almost let him touch me because I had to protect you, Tommy."

"You...he _what?_ " I had never really felt angry before, so, this was new.

"It's okay, Tommy. I'm okay." Alex snickered, "I threw up on his face."

"...Oh."

Alex just kept picking at my shirt.

"Um...you're actually handling the alcohol pretty well, considering."

"Yeah. My fosters a couple homes ago had a loooot of it. It's probably why they hit me all the time. Also because I would steal some of the drinks and get drunk so I would feel better." Alexander paused. "It didn't work." He paused again. "It didn't work when I tried to kill myself with it, either. My next home didn't have the drinks. Just a lot of knives. Those didn't work, either. The Adams' don't have anything."

My eyes widened. "A-Alex...you-"

"It's okay, Tommy." Alexander smiled at me. "I like it here. I've never had friends before." Alex reached up and brushed his fingers across my face.

"I...Alex-"

"Have you ever dated I guy before?" Alex's smile became more playful. I blushed.

"I...um...no."

Alexander cocked his head to the side. "But your gay, right?"

"Um...y-yes..."

Alex nodded. Then, his eyes lit up. "Are you a virgin?"

I was probably sweating with how hot my face was. "Y-Ye-Yeah."

Alexander nodded again. "I'm not. A couple homes ago, I slept with a girl. It was okay. I didn't like her that much. She didn't like me that much, either, I don't think. She broke up with me two days after. I think she just wanted to use me so she wouldn't be a virgin, anymore, either. I think that's why I don't trust relationships, anymore."

"Oh-"

"But, like, I still wanna date you, you know?"

My heart stopped. "Wh-What?" My voice was barely a whisper.

Alex laughed. "You're funny, Tommy. And you're really, really, really, really nice." Alexander moved his face closer to mine as he giggled softly. As if it were a secret, he whispered, "And cuuuute."

"I-I...Alex...I..." His face was extremely close to mine. His breath was hot on my cheeks, and the smell of alcohol engulfed me. The realization hit me like a truck. He was drunk. The alcohol was making him say this. _Think_ this. He didn't really...he _couldn't_ really...like me. "Alex...no."

"What?" Alexander pouted. He had buried one of his hands in my hair. His lips were _so_ _close_ to mine.

"You're drunk. We can't...you aren't thinking clearly."

Alex stared at me for a minute. "So, so nice." He let go of my hair and lay his head on my chest. "Imma go to sleep, now."

"Okay."

Alexander went silent. "Okay, imma throw up again, and then go to sleep." He rolled off of me and emptied his stomach in my garbage can. As he came back to me, he muttered, "I got a little on the floor but it's okay." He lay on my chest again. "Your heart is fast."

"I know."

"Okay. G'night, Tommy."

"Goodnight, Alexander." He was asleep within seconds. I started to pet his head, running my fingers through his hair, getting the tangles out. His eyebrows were furrowed as he slept, as if he was fighting in his dreams. It was cute. I wanted this.

But, as I drifted off, I wondered how I would explain this to my mother in the morning.


	19. Chapter 19

**Ahem.**

* * *

 ** _Thomas_**

I had forgotten about the previous night when I woke up. It startled me to see Alexander in bed with me. I calmed down slightly when I remembered that we hadn't done anything bad. I slowly struggled out of Alex's grasp, then figured he wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. The clock read eight, which meant that my dad had left an hour ago. I had a lot of work to do before my mom woke up.

I got out of bed, being careful to not step on any of the vomit on the floor. I lifted Alex's clothes and carried them downstairs, then literally tossed them into the washer. While they were being cleaned, I went back upstairs and cleaned up the bathroom, then the significantly smaller mess in my room. I watched Alexander sleep for a few minutes, then quietly went downstairs to make breakfast. I was halfway through flipping the bacon when I heard footsteps upstairs, coming from my parents' room.

I panicked so much that I forgot to turn off the stove. For the first time in a long time, I ran. I sprinted up the stairs and stopped in front of my room just as my mom walked out of her room.

"Good morning, Dear," my mom yawned. "You're up early."

"I-I, uh, I'm making breakfast." I shifted in front of my door.

"Why are you up here, then?"

"Um...I...I forgot my phone."

"Okay..." My mom narrowed her eyes a bit. "You aren't going to do that?"

"I am." I didn't move.

My mom crossed her arms. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing," I said quickly.

"Thomas. What's in your room?"

"Nothing, Mom!"

My mom simply walked up to me and I stepped away in fear as she opened the door. Neither of us said anything for a while. Finally, "Thomas."

"Yes, Mom?"

"There's a boy in your bed."

"I-I know, Mom."

"Why?"

"Well...well, he...he was kinda...he was pressured into going to a party...and drink and stuff...so he called me for help...and I couldn't bring him to his house so late...so-so I...I, um..."

My mom sighed. "Just...have him call his parents when he wakes up." She moved towards the stairs.

"That...That's it?"

"As long as you two didn't do anything."

My face burned. "Of course not."

"Good. Let him sleep. It smells like you're burning the bacon."

"I...Okay." I closed the door and followed my mom downstairs.

* * *

 _ **Alexander**_

Everything hurt. Literally everything. My head, my eyes, my stomach, etcetera. I blinked my eyes open, then flinched and closed them again. I took my time trying to open my eyes again, attempting to adjust to the bright light. The blinds were barely even open. I eventually dragged myself into a sitting position and rubbed my eyes. One second later, I was bent over the edge of the bed, vomiting into the small garbage can. The quick movement made my head throb.

When I was able to sit up, again, I looked around the room, squinting at everything. There was so much...color. Pictures covered the magenta walls. The blanket I was gripping was purple and so fluffy. I wasn't wearing anything but my boxers and a sweatshirt that wasn't mine. I recognized it, though. Me realizing who's it was helped me to remember at least some of what had happened last night. I groaned and rubbed at my temples.

There was a knock at the door. I winced at the sound, even though it wasn't that loud. The door opened and Thomas entered, carrying a tray of food.

"You're awake," Thomas commented quietly.

"I...yeah." My voice sounded awful.

"Are you hungry?"

I shrugged and nodded a bit. Thomas placed the tray on the bed next to me, then went to open a window.

"You should eat. Drink water, at least. The fresh air should help."

I just stared at him for a while. He blushed under my gaze.

"U-Um...I...I can leave, if you-"

"Don't."

"...Okay." Thomas sat on the end of the bed. I waved him closer until he was sitting next to me. I leaned against him, my head on his chest. He tensed up beneath me, but I didn't care. I slowly ate, still halfway asleep. "Are you doing okay?"

I nodded. "Thank you," I whispered.

"Of course." Thomas had a hand lightly on my waist. I leaned into it as I reached for the bacon. "Oh, I, uh, accidentally burned it a little."

"Thanks."

"Sorry."

"I said thanks. I like it like this."

"Oh. I-I thought you were being sarcastic."

"No."

"Oh. Okay." Hesitantly, Thomas ran his hand through my hair. I felt him untangling it. I smiled. "Um-"

"I can't thank you enough for all of this."

"Oh, you-you really don't need to-"

"I should. I'll figure something out when I feel better."

"You don't have to, Alex. It's okay."

I sighed quietly and leaned farther against him.

"So...uh-"

I winced when my phone rang. I looked around, but couldn't find it. Thomas grabbed it from his bedside table and handed it to me. Mrs. Adams was calling. "Hello?" I answered.

"Alexander, where have you been?" Mrs. Adams stressed.

"Sorry. I...I got sick really late so my friend let me stay the night at his house."

"Is it Thomas?"

I briefly wondered why she asked. "Yes."

I heard Mrs. Adams sigh. "Okay. Just get a ride home by this afternoon, okay?"

"Okay."

"Feel better, sweetheart. I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Goodbye, Dear."

I hung up. "I need a ride home later," I told Thomas.

"Okay," Thomas said. "I can ask my mom."

I nodded and closed my eyes.

"Hey, so..."

I opened my eyes again. "Hm?"

"Can I...Can I ask what you meant last night?" Thomas' voice was shaking.

"What do you mean?"

"What you were talking about...?"

"I...I'm sorry, I don't remember."

"Oh."

"What was I talking about?"

"You...You just...You were talking about your past a lot..." My face flushed. "You probably don't want to talk about it again, anyway."

"No, I'd rather not," I agreed.

"Right. Sorry." Thomas paused. "You also said..." I looked up at Thomas. He froze. "U-Um...I...I-I mean...uh..."

"What?" I kept my eyes on Thomas'. He seemed to try to fight away from my gaze. "What did I say?"

"Ne-Nevermind."

"No, what was it?"

"It...It's just something you probably regret anyway. I don't...I don't want to make you upset or anything." Thomas turned away.

I couldn't tell if it was the hangover or something else, but something made me reach up and place my hand on his cheek. I turned his head to face me again, gently caressing his cheek. He was tense. "Thomas," I said calmly, "What did I say?"

Thomas' face was red. "I-I..."

"Thomas. It's okay. I want to know."

He was hyperventilating, his eyes watering. "Y-You...You said you...you, um, you...wanted to...to, um...to d-date me?" Thomas squeezed his eyes shut, trying to turn away from me. I looked at him for a moment, then pulled my hand away and went back to eating. Thomas covered his face with his hands. "I-I'm sorry, but you-you said that and...I'm sorry. You probably feel awful. I'm so sorry."

I let him finish panicking. "What are you sorry for?"

"For...for...Well, I'm sure you feel bad for saying something like that because you were drunk and it's not like you actually want to do-"

"Why do you think that?"

"Wh-What?"

"Why do you think I don't want to date you?"

"W-Well...Well, because...Well, why would you?"

I met Thomas' eyes and raised an eyebrow at him. After a moment, I turned, shaking my head and laughing softly. "You're smarter than this, Thomas."

"What does that mean?"

I quickly kissed Thomas' neck, since it was all I could easily reach. Thomas' entire body began shaking. I leaned up farther and kissed his cheek. It was incredibly warm, but I didn't mind.

"A-Alex..." Thomas squeaked. I chuckled and patted his knee.

"A drunk man's words are a sober man's thoughts," I said offhandedly.

"O-Oh..."

"So?"

"S-So?"

"Do you want to date me or not?"

"I-I..." Thomas shook his head slightly, his eyes wide. "Yes," he whispered. "I-I...Yes, I do, I...Oh, my God...I-I can't...This is...You really...?"

"Yes, Thomas."

"Okay." Thomas lay down and buried his face in a pillow.

"You're adorable."

Thomas squealed into his pillow.

* * *

 **You're welcome.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Slight _Detroit: Become Human_ spoilers? It's part of the exposition of the game though so I hope that's okay**

* * *

 ** _Alexander_**

I guess we called it our first date. Me hungover at his house and him taking care of me. It wasn't that bad. Thomas made sure I kept drinking water, even when I refused, saying I was fine. We talked about random little things for hours, and I even managed to make him laugh.

We sat on his bed as he played a game called _Detroit: Become Human._ "It's about androids," Thomas told me. "They were made to do pretty much all the work for people, but everyone discriminates against them just because they aren't the same."

"That's racist," I said.

"That's the point of the game."

I grumbled but watched Thomas play. He played as a character named Kara, an android. She cleaned a house for a grumpy, mean man who reminded me of my father, then had to serve dinner for him and his daughter, Alice. It very quickly became even more obvious that this man was physically abusing his daughter. When Thomas had to choose how to defend the little girl, I shouted, "Get the gun!"

Thomas flinched. "I-I'm not going to do that."

"He's an awful human being. He can't just do this to his child."

Thomas tugged on his lip with his teeth. Kara ran into the room with the little girl to protect her. "I'm not going to kill him."

"Why not?" I lifted my head off of his shoulder a bit too quickly for my headache's taste.

"I can't...I don't like having to do that."

"You don't like defending yourself, Thomas," I corrected him. Kara got Alice out of the house by escaping through the window. The scene ended. My arms were crossed, and Thomas and I were silent. I glanced at him. His head was hanging, his hands in his lap, his eyes squeezed tightly shut. I sighed deeply and calmed down. I wasn't about to ruin yet another relationship before it started. "I'm sorry, Thomas," I softly said. "I'm not really upset with you. I just...things like this piss me off, you know? I've had to deal with this shit all my life," I gestured to the game, "and I'm not going through it again unless I'm going down fighting."

"I know," Thomas mumbled after a moment. After another few moments, he said, "You're right."

"Hm?"

"I...I can't defend myself." He covered his face as he began to cry. I shushed him and pulled his hands away from his face, holding them in my own.

"Of course you can," I assured him. "You just don't. There's a difference."

"But-But I should."

"Yes, you should. But sometimes it's hard and scary and you don't want to, right?"

Thomas nodded slightly.

"I want to help you with that. I want you to be able to keep yourself safe if I'm not around. Like, I want to protect you, but if you're always relying on me, then you won't get any better."

"I...I don't think I can..."

"You don't seem to try much."

"I know. But I'll help you. I want you to teach you how to be brave. I think you could do incredible things if you were braver."

"Oh, no, I couldn't-"

"Sure you can. Everyone can. You just have to stand up for yourself and try."

Thomas took a deep breath, but didn't exhale for a long time. "Maybe...maybe teach me some other time?"

I sighed quietly but nodded and squeezed his hands, then gently rubbed his back. "How about we play something together?" I suggested.

"Okay." Thomas slowly went through his games until he found Mario Kart. I agreed to playing it, having heard that it was fun. Thomas handed me a controller, and we played for a while, until I decided he was letting me beat him.

"You shouldn't be losing to someone who's never played this before," I said defiantly.

"I'm not letting you win," Thomas denied.

"Yes, you are. Stop it."

Thomas pursed his lips. "Fine."

He kicked my ass.

Halfway through a fourth rematch I had requested of Rainbow Road, my phone rang. Being the overly organized person I was, I had given everyone in my contacts different ringtones and text tones. I recognized this one as Lafayette. I scowled and quickly silenced my phone.

"Shouldn't you answer that?" Thomas asked, pausing the game.

"No," I answered curtly.

"...Okay..." Thomas started the game up again, then immediately dropped a banana peel in front of me.

My phone was vibrating like crazy, blowing up with texts. I ignored them all.

"It seems really urgent," Thomas said.

"It's just Lafayette trying to tell me he has 'the power to kill' or whatever."

Thomas' character drove into a wall.

"I swear, that's the dumbest thing he's ever said. His stupid Snapchat account can't do shit."

Thomas' character stopped driving altogether. I turned to him. He was staring at the screen with blank eyes.

"Thomas? Thomas, are you okay?"

"He..." Thomas shook his head, dropping his controller and covering his face. I put my controller down, as well.

"Thomas, please, talk to me. What is it? He what?"

"He...he..." Thomas took a deep breath and nodded a bit. "No, no, you have to know." Thomas straightened his back and clenched his jaw. I had never seen him look so confident. In a barely shaky voice, Thomas told me, "There was a boy in our grade named Aaron Burr. I wasn't necessarily friends with him, but he was still nice.

"Lafayette had been here since the middle of eighth grade, and in freshman year, he started going after Aaron. It was awful. Aaron looked so bad both physically and in the eyes of anyone who had started to believe Lafayette. Laurens started to bully Aaron, too. The sisters picked on him.

"Aaron...he started skipping school. He failed his classes. He was such a smart kid..." Thomas sniffled and wiped his eyes. "He didn't show up for a week and we...we just knew. There's a memorial for him in the band room, but it's so small. No one ever payed attention. Lafayette got away with it, but everyone got so scared of him after what happened." Thomas exhaled and stared down at his hands. My own hands were clenched into fists. My eyes hurt after being open wide for so long.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I growled. Thomas shook his head. "I'm going to destroy him tomorrow. All of them."

"Alex, you can't-"

"Watch me." My fingers were twitching; I needed to write.

"Alexander, _please_ -"

"He's going to go after you after what I did at the party, anyway. I'm not letting him get away with that shit, again. I'm not going to see you go through that. You're too important to me."

Thomas blushed.

"I need to get back to the Adams'. Have to figure stuff out."

Thomas nodded. "I'll tell my mom." He left the room, leaving me to my thoughts.

* * *

Thomas walked me to the door when we got to my foster home. I held his hand.

"Thank you, again," I said. "I'm sorry for getting all pissy at the end there."

"It's okay," Thomas muttered.

"Hey, I'll make it up to you. Take you out to lunch or a movie or something."

Thomas sputtered. "Y-You don't have to-"

"Of course I do. We're dating, now, aren't we?"

"I-I yeah, yeah."

"Good." I opened the front door, kissed Thomas on the cheek, then giggled at his flushed, gaping expression. "See ya, Tommy." I winked and waved as I stepped inside the house, closing the door behind me.

I took a deep breath and made it to the stairs before I heard Mrs. Adams call out, "Alex? That you?"

"Yes," I responded, sighing, just wanting to go to my room.

Mrs. Adams walked down the hall and found me, looking over my body closely. "How are you feeling? Still sick?"

"No. I'm fine, now."

"Good. That's good. Tell Thomas thanks for helping you."

"I did."

"Good, good."

"Hey, um..." I fidgeted with the hem of Thomas' sweatshirt, which I only then realized I was still wearing. "Do you, uh, do you think you could drive Thomas and I out to the theater or a restaurant or something sometime?" I rushed through my words, not used to being nervous about them.

Mrs. Adams quirked an eyebrow. "Sure...why?"

"We just, you know, wanted to..." I gave up, throwing my hands up. "For fuck's sake, we're dating, alright?" I crossed my arms, waiting for the usual response.

"Watch your language." Mrs. Adams started to walk away.

Tthat was not the usual response. "That's it?"

"He has to come over for dinner some time so John and I can talk to him."

"You aren't going to say anything about it?"

"Fine, I will." Mrs Adams turned back to me with a smirk on her face. "Use protection. It's under the sink in the upstairs bathroom."

I started, my face burning. Mrs. Adams just giggled and walked off. "Right," I said to myself. "Definitely needed to think about that."

I spent the next three hours writing in my room, only stopping because Mrs. Adams reminded me that I had homework to do.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Alexander**_

Once again, I was not excited for the next day of school. After the party, I had been expecting Lafayette to break into my house and attack me over the weekend. Since that didn't happen, I assumed he would hunt me down during his study hall, then stuff and mount me on the wall. Maybe he'd at least be compassionate enough to give me a memorial next to Aaron Burr's, the poor kid.

There was already a fight when I walked into the school. Laurens was beating someone up, with the other boy barely landing any punches in return. This time, a crowd had gathered around them. Peggy stood at the front of the group, jumping and clapping. The brawling boys kept glancing up at her, seemingly for approval. I figured that they were fighting over and/or for Peggy.

I caught sight of Lafayette recording the fight from off to the side. I ducked my head and hurried past them.

Thomas and his friends were sitting at their- _our?_ -table, per the usual. I realized that I didn't know if James and Maria had been told about my and Thomas' new relationship. I decided that if they didn't before, they would soon. I sat down next to Thomas and leaned against him. I pulled on his arm and wrapped it around me. I felt Thomas tense and heard him gulp heavily.

"Alex," he hissed.

"Hm?" I took out my book and started to read, resting my head on his chest.

"You can't just-"

"I thought we were dating, now," I said.

"Yeah, but-"

" _What?_ " James and Maria suddenly gasped.

"Oh, God." Thomas practically gagged.

"You're _dating_ now?" Maria asked while James went into a coughing fit. Thomas laughed nervously. I nodded, casually flipping the page in my book. James squealed like a little girl as Maria sputtered, "You're-you can't-what do you-explain, dammit."

"We're dating now," I shrugged. "That's it."

"Well, did you go out?"

"Not yet. We slept together, though."

"You _what?_ " Maria shrieked.

" _Alex!_ " Thomas covered his face. "Oh, my God. We didn't...we just slept in the same bed."

Maria narrowed her eyes at me and Thomas. "Okay...why did that happen?"

I closed my book and took a deep breath. "Lafayette forced me to go to the Schuyler's party by threatening to hurt Thomas if I didn't. He continued to use this threat to get me drunk and high. I was barely still mentally stable enough to draw the line when he tried to have sex with me, which I want to tell Mulligan about. Anyway, I got away by vomiting in Lafayette's face, which I figure he'll eventually yell at me about. I got out of the house and called Thomas for help. He brought me to his house, took care of me, and we ended up sleeping together." Thomas glared at me. "We slept in the same bed," I corrected.

"How did you decide to get together?" James asked.

"The next morning, Thomas told me that I had drunkenly told him that I like him. I confirmed this, and that was that."

"Well, congratulations."

It was odd of me to feel as if James was being sincere. "Thanks."

"So...have you kissed yet?" Maria wondered, smirking a bit.

Thomas blushed. "N-No. I-I mean, he's kissed me on the cheek a couple-"

I decided to cut Thomas off by craning my neck to peck him on the lips. Thomas' face went blank as he began to make a slightly concerning squeaking sound.

"No shame, huh?" James wondered.

"Not much," I replied.

The bell rang. I held Thomas' hand and helped him walk to home room while his brain was rebooting. In the classroom, I scooted my chair closer to him until our legs were touching. Thomas was shivering a little, so I gently held his knee. He shook more so I released him.

"Are...are you sure about this?" Thomas whispered.

"About what?" I asked in the same tone.

"About us..."

"Of course I'm sure. I'm never unsure."

"Okay..."

I held Thomas' knee again.

We worked on homework and read (I also wrote about Thomas for a few minutes), then I suddenly felt like someone was watching me. I turned, finding the obvious culprit: Lafayette. I rolled my eyes and focused on my work, again. My phone faintly chimed in my pocket with Lafayette's text tone. I quickly silenced it, wondering why I kept the contact in my phone.

Lafayette could wait. I was too busy trying to have a better life.


	22. Chapter 22

_**Alexander**_

When I got to the class I shared with Lafayette, I suddenly felt like vomiting. He tended to make me feel that way. Regardless, I held my breakfast down and my head high as I sat down.

Unfortunately for me, the teacher of this class didn't care about most things, including teaching well. He let people sit wherever they wanted and talk whenever they wanted. It was excruciating to be in there, but I had to stay. All of this meant that Lafayette was fully able to sit right next to me.

"You didn't answer your phone," Lafayette snarled at me. I turned my head down, focusing on my class work. "You will answer me, or there will be hell to pay." I still didn't respond. Lafayette grabbed my ponytail and pulled, yanking my head backwards. I glared at him.

"What?" I growled.

"You know what, dégénéré. You pissed me off."

"When? You're going to have to be more specific."

Lafayette tugged on my hair, again. "The party, dumb fuck."

"Oh, right. The one where you got me intoxicated so you could try to rape me. That one?"

"I was just trying to have fun. You just didn't understand that."

"Wow. You didn't even try to come up with an intelligent excuse, did you?"

"You-"

"Does your precious boyfriend know what you did to me?" I grinned when Lafayette's face flushed.

"We...have an...open relationship," Lafayette tried.

"Right. Will he say that when I ask him later?"

"He would never listen to you."

"We'll find out about that."

Lafayette tightened his grip on my hair. "I will destroy you before you have the chance."

"Really? How do you plan on doing that? By insulting me? Making Laurens fight me?"

"I do not need to tell you what I will do. Still, you are smart enough to figure it out."

"If you were considering doing something to Thomas, you can try again."

"I can do whatever I want."

"Let's find out how many lies you can tell in the span of five minutes."

Lafayette yanked my hair so hard that my neck popped as my head turned towards the ceiling.

"Is now really the time to be figuring out my kinks?" I held back a wince when Lafayette pulled out a few of my hairs.

"You need to start learning that when I threaten you, it would be better to just stop talking."

"You need to start learning that I'm not scared of you."

"I can change that."

"I'd love to see you try."

Lafayette attempted to slam my head onto the desk, but I was strong enough to keep my head still. He huffed, stood, and stormed out of the classroom. The teacher shouted after him, but he didn't listen. He hadn't brought anything but his phone with him, so I stole a few of his pens and pencils.

* * *

As I snuck into the locker room after school, I realized that I was pretty sure Mulligan was mute. I had never heard him speak before, but it was possible Lafayette never allowed him to. Regardless, I was going to talk to Mulligan, unless he and his boyfriend were making out or something worse.

The locker room was full of football players changing for practice, so I doubted that the couple would be doing anything. Then again, Lafayette had less shame than I did. I got odd stares from some of the boys, but no one said anything to me while I searched for Mulligan. He was in the back with only two others around him. I made my way over to him with a determined gait.

"Mulligan," I called out. He turned and looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, proving that he actually did have the brain capacity and will power to talk.

"Why weren't you at the party?" I countered.

Mulligan blinked once, twice. "Why do you care?"

"I'm asking for the Schuyler sisters." I hoped he would believe it. He couldn't be _that_ smart, could he?

He took the bait. "Oh, uh, I had a family thing. Tell them that." He turned away from me, but I stepped closer.

"Lafayette told them that, but they don't believe it."

"Well, that's what happened."

"Lafayette told you not to go, didn't he?" I guessed.

"No."

I waited.

"What does it matter if he did? He said the party would be trash, so we didn't go." He paused. "Don't tell the sisters that trash part."

"Neither of you went to the party?"

"Yeah."

"But Lafayette was there. He made me go and get drunk."

Mulligan stopped moving in the middle of pulling on his jersey.

"He lied to you," I said softly. "He lied to you and told you not to go so he could try to sleep with me, which he almost did."

"Pssh. Yeah, right. Like he would do that. You can't expect me to trust someone like you."

"You don't have to trust me. You just have to think about it." I spun on my heel and left before Mulligan could try to say anything else.

Thomas was waiting for me down the hall, pacing between the walls. He ran up to me when he saw me, already fussing. "Are you crazy?" He squeaked, frantically touching my face and arms. "You can't just go in there, and you definitely can't just confront Mulligan. You're so lucky Lafayette wasn't around. You could have gotten hurt-are you hurt-" I pressed my finger against Thomas' lips, silencing him.

"I'm fine," I said. "Don't worry about me."

"Do you know how hard that is?" Thomas whined from behind my finger. I chuckled and dropped my hand to Thomas' stomach. I felt his breath hitch when I gripped the bottom of his shirt and pulled him down the hall.

"You'll get used to it."

"I don't want to get used to that. I don't want to get used to you getting hurt."

"If everything goes well, I won't get hurt nearly as much. You won't get hurt, either."

"And if it doesn't go well?"

"I fight some more."

"Alex, you can't-"

"I can and I might need to. I can handle it."

"But-"

"We're going out this weekend, right?" I wondered, changing the subject.

Thomas sputtered for a moment, then sighed. "Yeah."

"Cool. Text me if plans change." We stepped outside. Thomas' mom was picking him up today, so I let go of his shirt and squeezed his hand before we parted ways.

Mrs. Adams and I didn't talk on the way back to the house. I mentally thanked her for saving my breath. I had a lot of people to talk to tomorrow.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Alexander**_

I asked Thomas to sit somewhere else during our math class the next day. When he panicked, thinking I no longer liked him, I hurried to assure him otherwise. I just had to talk to Eliza.

Thomas panicked even more at that. I promised I would make it up to him for causing him so much stress.

Eliza was ecstatic to be sitting next to me. She skipped to the desk and twirled as she sat down, then crossed her legs dramatically.

"Look at you," Eliza cooed, "coming around to me."

"Yeah, whatever." I rolled my eyes. "I just need to get some information about someone."

"Why are you asking me? Lafayette knows everything."

"Because I want to know about Lafayette."

"Oh. Well, what do I get for telling you about him?"

"I'll go out with you," I said nonchalantly. "On one singular date."

Eliza's face broke into a smile. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"The beginning." I opened my notebook. "What was he like when he got here? How did he get so popular and controlling?"

"Well," Eliza popped a piece of gum into her mouth, "first of all, this wasn't his first school in America. He left the other one because he was being bullied for being an immigrant, I guess. So, when he came here, he found me and _begged_ me to help him out. He was so desperate it was gross. I figured it couldn't be too hard; French and British accents are so hot, so I'd just make him a total lady killer.

"I started with new clothes, teaching him how to do his hair, and even showing him how to walk like a queen. Then, when he was ready, I told him to ask out some girl. But _then,_ he said he was gay! Like, okay, you couldn't have told me earlier? So, I taught him all this shit to get a girl for nothing.

"My sisters and I still hung out with him, though. He was really good at being popular, honestly. He was really good at commanding people whenever he had the chance. We assumed he was, like, actually friends with us.

"My sisters and I noticed that Lafayette would stare at the football players, like, all the time. It was kind of creepy. Like, I know they're all hot, but calm down. Then, one day, we all went to a football game, and afterwards, everyone was talking to the football players and whatever. Lafayette looks at me and is like, 'Do you think Hercules Mulligan is into guys?' And I was like, 'He's so not gay.' And he was like, 'I don't need him to be _gay,_ I just need him to like guys. So, the bitch walks over to Mulligan, ignoring all the girls around him, and just starts fucking flirting! Like, you can't just _do_ that.

" _Theeen,_ the next day, I find out they totally fucked! They start dating, and Lafayette completely leaves me behind. Now, anytime I want him to do something, he says I owe him for it. But, like, what about when I helped make you popular, you ass?"

I had been writing everything down. I could use a lot of this, later. "So, what I'm understanding is that he's just trying really hard to look good to everyone. Or, rather, to hurt everyone before they can hurt him."

"Yeah, pretty much," Eliza nodded. "He's like, so scared of being bullied, again. Honestly, most popular kids only act the way we do because something is scaring us, so we have to do something awful to cover it up. Like, when Laurens' parents got divorced, he started acting like he does, now."

I wondered if I should bring that up to him. "Okay. Thanks for all that, I guess."

"Yeah, when are we going to go out?"

"Never."

"But you promised!"

"As someone who makes a lot of deals, you should know that not all promises are kept."

"You asshole!" Eliza's whining was getting annoying.

"Fine. How about a better reward?" I suggested. "Payback against Lafayette."

Eliza crossed her arms. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"I'm not going to do anything. You are. You're the second best gossip lord in school, as I've heard. Spread the word about what you did for him and how he left you behind. Isn't that what you want people to understand?"

Eliza's lips tightened into a line. "Whatever." She stopped talking to me, trying to hide that she was texting someone.

* * *

I could feel people staring at me as I walked through the lunch room. If I was going towards Laurens, that usually meant a fight was coming. I hoped to avoid that, today.

Laurens was already glaring at me when I sat across from him.

"Don't freak out," I said, my voice dripping with exasperation. "I just want to talk."

Laurens' scowl deepened. "Why? About what?"

"I want to. Lafayette."

Laurens' eyebrows shot up. "Why talk to me about him?"

"Because you work for him."

"Like hell I do. That little bitch can't control me."

"He pays you to do something for him. That is basically the definition of working for someone."

Laurens clenched his fists on the table.

"Just talk to me for a few minutes, and I'll be out of your probably not washed hair."

"Listen, you piece of shit, you keep talking to me like that and I'll beat your ass."

"Try your best. I'm trying to help you."

"How?"

"I have a plan to take Lafayette down. You'll never have to do what he says, again."

"Sure you do. And how am I supposed to get my money from him?"

"You're a good bully. Shake him down."

Laurens seemed to contemplate this. "What do you want to know?" He asked softly.

I opened my notebook and tapped the point of my pencil. "Why did you start doing as he said? Seems like you were feared even before he came around. What changed?"

"Hell if I know. I just never got around to fucking with him. He started hanging with the Schuylers as soon as he showed up, pretty much."

"Why did that stop you?"

Laurens turned his eyes down. "Peggy and I have always kind of been off and on. I'm not about to piss her off."

"Did you start listening to Lafayette because of his friendship with your girlfriend?"

"Not really. He just started to pay me for shit."

"Hm. Would you rather just get money from him or get paid to do his dirty work?"

Laurens looked up at me, again. "I hate doing shit for him."

I leaned forward. "So why did you start doing it? Why did you never stop when you got tired of it? Why didn't you just do what you what _you_ wanted?"

Laurens stared blankly at me. "...I don't know..."

"My suggestion: stop listening to him. Fight back. Literally, if you want. It's your life. He doesn't control you and you know it. Let's take him down." I grinned at Laurens as I stood. "Pleasure doing business with you."


	24. Chapter 24

**I have nothing to say for myself**

* * *

 _ **Alexander**_

I could feel a buzz in the air when I walked into the school. The tension was so thick I could cut it with a knife. Laurens was sitting next to Peggy and Angelica, which I was sure was concerning to most people. They looked at me when I walked past them, but I gave no reaction or response. Lafayette and Mulligan were no where to be found. I hoped they were at least in the school somewhere, because, if they weren't, I felt that a wrench would be thrown into my plans. Come to think of it, I couldn't see Eliza, either.

Thomas felt the tension, too, if his incessant shaking and fidgeting was any indication. I held his hand to try to calm him down.

"Alex, what did you do?" Thomas asked in a strained voice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I replied.

"Something bad is going to happen. Can't you feel it?"

"Nope."

Thomas whined and pouted. "Alex..."

I patted Thomas' cheek. "You're very cute."

"Alex!" Thomas covered his red face with his hands. "You're c-cute, too," he muttered.

"Debatable. Have any of you seen Lafayette?"

My friends shook their heads.

"Damn. I was really hoping he'd be here."

"Why would you want Lafayette to be here?" Maria asked.

"Because something bad is going to happen."

"You said nothing-"

I interrupted Thomas with "The bad thing is happening to him, and I hopefully won't have to do much from here on out."

"What does that mean?"

"Stop worrying so much."

"I can't help it."

"Hey, Alex," Maria caught my attention. She subtly nodded to the middle of the room, through which Lafayette was angrily walking. I watched silently as Laurens stood and moved towards Lafayette. However, all they did was bump into each other, then glare at each other.

Laurens was a pickpocket, apparently.

Thomas started to panic, again, as Laurens came over to our table. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no, no, no," Thomas whispered, shaking. "He's going to hurt you, again. You said he wasn't going to...you said..."

I squeezed Thomas' hand. "Take a deep breath. I promise everything will be fine. You just have to trust me." That didn't calm Thomas' nerves at all.

I stayed composed as Laurens sat next to me. He faced away from me as if pretending not to be there. He handed me the phone he had stolen from Lafayette. It had a big, sparkly case and tiny plastic animals dangling off of it.

"Eliza's going to send something to this," Laurens pointed at the phone, "and wants you to send it to all his contacts."

"Okay." I tried to open the phone, but it was locked. "Do any of you know what the password is?"

Laurens shrugged. "Thought you could figure it out."

I blew some stray hairs out of my face. "Okay. What's Mulligan's birthday?"

"September twenty-fifth," a girl's voice said. James squeaked. I looked up and saw Eliza standing right next to him. Thomas was about to break my hand with how tight he was holding it.

I tried the numbers. "Nope. Their anniversary?"

"October seventh."

"No luck."

Thomas was hyperventilating. I ran my thumb over his knuckles.

"Herc doesn't work, either. Any other ideas?"

"Maybe he's not as attached to his boyfriend as he seems." Eliza winked at me.

I narrowed my eyes. "What's Lafayette's birthday?"

"September sixth."

It worked.

"I hope you know how to work Snapchat," Eliza said as she sent something on her phone. A second later, Lafayette's phone chimed with a video message. I pressed play.

The video had been recorded from around a corner, sneaking a look at Lafayette and Mulligan.

"-just want to know what the truth is," Mulligan was saying.

"I am telling you the truth," Lafayette huffed. "Why are you even thinking about what he says?"

"I just want to make sure."

"You don't have to make sure. I would never cheat on you." Lafayette wrapped his arms around Mulligan's neck. Mulligan stood stiffly.

"You specifically told me we weren't going to go to that party."

"Well...I just wanted to mess with him, is all."

"Why would that keep me from going?"

Lafayette stalled. "It...shouldn't..."

"So, you told me not to go for no reason, then got him drunk, _why?_ "

"Ah... _Hercules_..."

Lafayette's attempt to flirt fell flat. Hercules took a step back. "I can't believe you."

"Hercules, I did not-"

"You did. You _did_. You tried to sleep with someone else who didn't even want to-"

Lafayette suddenly got angry. "Why are you believing him over me? I am your boyfriend."

"Maybe you shouldn't be."

" _Excuse me?_ "

"If you're going to do shit like this and then lie to my face about it, maybe you shouldn't be my boyfriend, anymore."

"Are you seriously breaking up with me over this?"

"You're acting like you didn't do anything wrong."

"Hercules-"

"Stop it. Just stop. I'm done with this." Mulligan pushed past Lafayette and started to walk away.

"Hercules!"

"Don't act like I'm the problem here."

Lafayette screeched in frustration.

The recording stopped.

"Huh. I did better than I thought," I said. "Okay, let's-"

Lafayette screeched from the other side of the room. Before I could think of what to do, he was right behind me.

"Hamilton," Lafayette said much too loud in my ear. Thomas was so tense that I thought he was having a heart attack. "Give me back my phone before I make something bad happen to you."

Laurens flipped his hood down.

Thomas whimpered.

I stood up and tried to move away, but Lafayette grabbed my arm and attempted to take his phone back. Laurens-I think literally-growled, grabbed Lafayette's ponytail, and pulled. Lafayette shrieked as he let go of me. I hurried to get away, but, of course, I had to trip over the leg of the table. Thomas shouted my name when I hit the ground. Lafayette's phone slipped out of my hand.

When I got back up, I saw that Lafayette had escaped Laurens' grasp, and Thomas was standing with the dropped phone in his hands.

No one moved.

"Thomas, send it," I pleaded. "Don't-"

"Thomas," Lafayette interrupted, "give me my phone or your precious little boyfriend will be hurt like you would not believe."

Thomas started to shake again.

"Don't listen to him. I'll be fine."

"Then I will hurt you, Thomas."

Thomas squeezed his eyes shut.

"I won't let him hurt you. Just send it."

"Thomas-"

"Thomas, please. We've got him scared. Do it."

"Think about the consequences-"

"It'll work out alright, I promise."

"Thomas!"

"Thomas!" I rushed forward when Thomas dropped the phone, covered his face with his hands, and collapsed onto his knees. I hugged Thomas and shushed him, trying to calm him down, but he was already deep in his panic attack. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pressured you so much. I'm so sorry."

Lafayette grabbed his phone and grinned. "Useless boy."

And then, Lafayette looked at his phone and screamed, "No, no no!"

All around the gym, phones buzzed and beeped and dinged at once.

"You sent it?" I whispered to Thomas. He didn't respond. "It's okay. You did good. You did good." I kissed the side of Thomas' head.

Lafayette was swearing up a storm in both English and French as the whole school watched the video of him. He tried to run around and yell at people to stop watching it, but, for the first time, no one listened to him.

The bell rang only a minute later. I brought Thomas to the nurse and stayed with him. Through a window, I watched Lafayette go home.


	25. Chapter 25

_**Alexander**_

The rest of the day went fairly well, I thought.

Thomas went home early because of his panic attack. When his mom came to pick him up, I suggested getting him to a therapist. She smiled sadly at me and said she wished she could.

Homeroom was buzzing. Neither Mulligan nor Lafayette were there, of course, but the other students weren't just talking about the massive break up. Eliza had started spilling every bit of damning information she had on Lafayette, letting everyone know that they were free to fight against him without any real repercussions.

Someone talked back to Lafayette one day, and when Lafayette tried to make Laurens go after the kid, Laurens pulled his hood down. I turned away before I could see what happened, but I was told that it didn't end well for Lafayette.

The Schuyler sisters were no longer taking anyone's shit and were getting back at the people who didn't pay them back for their favors. That meant that Lafayette was forced to do as the girls said for a while in return for them helping him through his first months of school. That also meant I had to go on that date with Eliza. She talked the entire time, not even noticing that I was paying no attention.

Three months later, when Lafayette felt he had lost all his power, he moved schools, again. The Schuyler sisters took back control, and Laurens went back to doing whatever he wanted, along with officially dating Peggy. I struck up a deal with all of them: "Leave my friends alone, and I won't ruin you, too."

Thomas and our friends even became a bit more confident. We were hanging out in the morning when Eliza walked up to us.

"Hey, James, right?" She asked.

James was sent right into a coughing fit. "Uh...yeah.."

"Wanna go out with me?"

James started coughing again. When he calmed down, he looked to his friends for guidance. We all just shrugged at him. He turned back to Eliza and slowly said, "Let me think about it."

When Eliza walked away, we all laughed.

Mrs. Adams bought me a car at the start of senior year, so I was able to drive Thomas to our dates from then on. However, most of our dates involved cuddling on the bed and playing video games.

Although we were happy together, there were still days Thomas asked me, "Why did you decide to like me?"

"I didn't decide anything," I said to him once. "You forced me to like you."

Thomas started to panic. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"And I didn't mean that kind of force. I was just trying to flirt."

"Oh."

"There's a lot I could say to tell you why I like you, now, but it'd be faster to tell you why I started to like you in the first place."

"Okay."

I lifted my head off Thomas' chest to look at him. "Even though I was just some smart talking new kid, you protected me and helped me out."

Thomas looked utterly flabbergasted. "How did _I_ protect _you_? You're the one who protected me all the time. You're the brave one."

"You're brave, too."

"No, I'm-"

"Just because you didn't try to punch someone doesn't mean you aren't courageous."

Thomas silently stared down at his hands.

"You went out of your comfort zone all the time to help me out," I continued. "You gave me tips and talked to me even if it was just through notes. You gave me your sweatshirt when Lafayette threw food at me and I hadn't even asked for it. You put your own peace of mind at risk in favor of taking Lafayette down and bettering the school. I'd say that's all pretty damn brave."

Thomas' face was red. "O-Okay."

I kissed his cheek, making him blush more. "Now, I think it's only fair if I ask why you did all that even though you didn't know me."

"Oh, uh..." Thomas bit his lip and covered his eyes with his hands. "I just...I thought you were really good looking and-don't laugh at me!"

I managed to stifle my giggles and kissed Thomas on the lips, this time. "You're pretty, too." Thomas grumbled a disagreement, so I kissed him once more. Thomas whined in protest. "I love you."

This time, Thomas kissed me back.

* * *

 **Haaaaaa...this was an ordeal to finish...**

 **Is it a problem that I literally can't remember how I even came up with this concept?**


End file.
